Longtime closer Billy Wagner, who pitched for the Red Sox in 2009, was elected to the Hall of Fame in his 10th and final year of eligibility.

Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. It's a remarkable achievement to survive the gauntlet of baseball writers to get elected to Cooperstown: After all, the Baseball Hall of Fame remains the toughest to gain entry to, especially via the BBWAA path of election.

Tuesday is one of the holy days on the baseball calendar, the announcement of players voted into the Hall of Fame. The honor is extreme and well-earned, with just over 1% of all big leaguers making it to Cooperstown for what they did as players: 275 out of 23,370.

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.

Suzuki's close call means New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only unanimous electee. Rivera received all 425 votes in 2019. Another longtime Yankees icon, shortstop Derek Jeter, came within one vote of unanimous election in 2020. Suzuki, Rivera and Jeter were teammates with New York from 2012-13.

To this point, only famed Yankee closer Mariano Rivera has been elected to the Hall of Fame unanimously — not Babe Ruth, not Hank Aaron, not Ken Griffey Jr. nor Derek Jeter, just Rivera. Could Suzuki be the second?

Expected to be the first Japanese player elected to the Cooperstown on Tuesday, Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride and his fame across the Pacific when he joined MLB was therapeutic for his

The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.

Red Sox great Dustin Pedroia received a high enough percentage in 2025, his first year of eligibility, to remain on the Hall of Fame ballot next year.

Ichiro Suzuki has made even more history. The all-time great hitter is heading to Cooperstown, with C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner joining him.

Ichiro Suzuki, a veritable hits machine on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, became the first Japanese player to gain entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame when he was