The most important thing that happened on Tuesday insofar as the Baseball Hall of Fame is concerned is that three players – Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner – were announced as having been elected to Cooperstown by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).
On Tuesday, the former MVP, 10-time All-Star and two-time batting champion was named among the three-player class for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was joined by CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. And while there was no surprise as to Ichiro’s induction, there total vote tally was a shock.
Ichiro Suzuki has been named to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the possible vote. Here are the best reactions from around the internet.
Ichiro Suzuki could have been immortalized as a first-ballot Hall of Famer nearly a decade ago. He was last a full-time starter in 2012, at 38. He logged his 3,000th hit in 2016, when he was 42. Still, he made us wait three more years to celebrate his retirement.
Players are elected to the Hall of Fame provided they are named on at least 75% of ballots cast by eligible voting members of the BBWAA. With 394 ballots submitted in the 2025 election, candidates needed to receive 296 votes to be elected.
Once more, for baseball immortality, Billy Wagner closed it out. Wagner, the dominant closer who played a two-season sliver of his 16-year career with the Phillies, got elected Tuesday night to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his 10th and final year on the ballot.
The Seattle Mariners announced they will be retiring the No. 51 this August to celebrate Ichiro Suzuki as he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.
On the same day that Ichiro Suzuki learned that he'd been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Seattle Mariners announced that they'll retire his No. 51 during the upcoming season: Ichiro's number will be officially honored in a ceremony prior to the Mariners' game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday,
Ichiro Suzuki is the first Japanese-born player voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He'll be joined by CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner in the Class of 2025.
Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia were elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, Suzuki in overwhelming fashion, while Billy Wagner made the most of his 10th and final appearance on the ballot, clearing the 75% barrier to inclusion by earning 325 of 394 votes.