Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, falling one vote short of unanimity when he was elected Tuesday along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.
Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Sabathia received 342 votes and Wagner 325, 29 more than the 296 needed to obtain the required 75 percent.
Sabathia and Suzuki were elected on their first ballot. Wagner succeeded on his tenth and final attempt.
The trio will be inducted into the Hall at Cooperstown on July 27 along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, selected last month by the Classical Era Committee.
Mariano Rivera remained the only player to receive 100% of the vote from the BBWAA and appeared on all 425 ballots in 2019. Derek Jeter was elected 395 of 396 in 2020.
Carlos Beltran fell 19 votes short of 70.3%, down from 57.1% last year and 46.5% in 2023, when he first appeared on the ballot. He was followed by Andruw Jones with 261 points, representing 66.2%, up from 61.6% last year and 7.3% when he first appeared in 2018.
The best contact batsman ever?
Suzuki came to Major League Baseball from Japan in 2001 at the age of 27 and joined Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. He was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBI and 509 stolen bases with Seattle (2001–12, 2018–19), New York Yankees (2012–14) and Miami (2015-17).
He is arguably the greatest contact hitter in history, with 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB, including a season-high 262 in 2004. His total of 4,367 hits exceeds Pete Rose's MLB record of 4,256.
Sabathia was a six-time All-Star who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2007 and a World Series title in 2009. He was 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among lefties behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton. for 19 seasons with Cleveland (2001-08), Milwaukee (2008) and the New York Yankees (2009-19).
Wagner received 284 votes and 73.8 percent on the ballot in 2024, five votes behind when third baseman Adrian Beltre, catcher/first baseman Joe Mauer and first baseman Todd Helton were elected. During his first appearance in 2016, Wagner received only 10.5% support.
He became the ninth indoor pitcher to serve primarily as a reliever – the first left-hander among them – after Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith and Rivera.
A seven-time All-Star, Wagner was 47-40 with a 2.31 ERA and 422 saves with Houston (1995-2003), Philadelphia (2004-05), New York Mets (2006-09), Boston (2009). and Atlanta (2010). His 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings are the most among pitchers with at least 900 innings, although his 903 career innings are the fewest among Hall of Famers.
Chase Utley was sixth, earning 157 votes for 39.8%, up from 28.8% in his first appearance.
Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez did not take part in the vote due to suspension for stimulants. Rodriguez in his fourth outing got 37.1%, up from 34.8%, and Ramirez in his ninth outing got 34.3%, up from 32.5%.
Andy Pettitte, in his seventh appearance, received 110 votes and 27.9%, doubling his result from 13.5% last year. Felix Hernandez received 81 votes and 20.6 percent in the first ballot.
The players account for 278 of the 351 elected Hall of Famers, including 142 on the BBWAA ballot, with 62 of those elected in their first year of eligibility.
Carlos Gonzalez, Curtis Granderson, Adam Jones, Ian Kinsler, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney, Troy Tulowitzki and Ben Zobrist will be excluded from future ballots after receiving less than 5 percent.
Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp will join the ballot next year.