Ichiro, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner are elected to the Hall of Fame

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner were voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Results of this year’s voting were announced on Tuesday on MLB Network.

The trio will be inducted in a ceremony on July 27 in Cooperstown, New York — Dave Parker and the late Dick Allen, who the Classic Baseball Era Committee elected in December, will join them.

Tom Hamilton, winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting, and Thomas Boswell, who will receive the BBWAA Career Excellence Award for baseball writing, will also be honored that weekend.

Ichiro’s election seemed like a foregone conclusion. The results also continued what has been a phenomenal week for the Japanese outfielder. Ichiro learned on Thursday that he had been voted into the NPB Hall of Fame. Now he joins the MLB Hall of Fame, becoming the first Asian-born player to do so.

For a game continuing to grow internationally, it is a significant moment.

The lefty-swinging speedster with a cannon for a right arm wasted little time making an impact on Major League Baseball when he arrived in 2001, the first Japanese position player from Japan to come to MLB. He would bat .311/.355/.402 across his 19-year career, collecting 3,089 hits and stealing 509 bases. Ichiro was named to 10 All-Star teams, won 10 Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, two batting titles, an MVP, and the Rookie of the Year Award.

Ichiro didn’t appear in an MLB game until he was 27, following a just as decorated nine-year career in Japan. There, he slashed .353/.421/.522 with 1,278 hits and three consecutive Pacific League MVP Awards.

He set the single-season hits record in Japan in 1994 (it was broken in 2010) and the MLB record in 2004.

His 4,367 combined professional hits put him alone atop the list.

The Mariners announced just hours later that they would retire Ichiro’s No. 51 in a ceremony on August 9.

Sabathia has been repeatedly described as the last workhorse pitcher of his generation. The left-hander threw more innings (3,577.1) than any other pitcher to debut since 1989, posting a 3.74 ERA (116 ERA+) with 3,093 strikeouts. Sabathia was named to six All-Star teams, won the Cy Young in 2007, and finished in the Top 5 in Cy Young voting four other times.

Sabathia’s 251 career wins tied him with Bob Gibson for second all-time among Black pitchers, behind only Ferguson Jenkins (284).

He is one of just 15 pitchers in history to record 3,000+ strikeouts and win 250+ games. Sabathia joins Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson as the only southpaws in the group.

11 of his 19 seasons came with the Yankees and Sabathia has already expressed a desire to have a NY hat on his HOF plaque (the final decision is ultimately made by the HOF).

Wagner’s path to the HOF has been longer and more contentious. Relief pitchers historically have not received their proper due. Wagner is just the ninth reliever to gain election (joining Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Dennis Eckersley, Hoyt Wilhelm, Goose Gossage, Lee Smith, Rollie Fingers, and Bruce Sutter).

The left-hander regularly featured a 100 mph fastball during a period in the game where such power wasn’t common in every bullpen. He posted a 2.31 ERA (187 ERA+) and 0.998 WHIP across 903.0 IP over his 16-year career, striking out 1,196 batters (11.9 K/9). He saved 422 games, the eighth-most all-time and second-most by a left-hander (John Franco had 424).

Among players to pitch at least 900 innings, Wagner’s 33.2% strikeout rate and .186 opponents’ average rank as the lowest in history.

According to the full voting results released by the BBWAA, 394 ballots were submitted this year. Candidates needed 296 (75%) votes to be elected.

Ichiro received 393 votes (99.7%). He joins Derek Jeter as the second player to fall just one vote short of a unanimous election. Only Mariano Rivera has been voted in unanimously.

Sabathia received 342 votes (86.8%). Wagner got 325 votes (82.5%).

Ichiro and Sabathia were appearing on the ballot for the first time. Wagner was in his tenth and final year of eligibility.

Carlos Beltrán was named on 277 ballots (70.3%), falling 19 votes shy of election. Andruw Jones (261 votes, 66.2%) was the only other player named on more than 50% of ballots.

10 players received less than the 5% needed to remain on future ballots (Ian Kinsler, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Troy Tulowitzki, Curtis Granderson, Adam Jones, Carlos González, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney, and Ben Zobrist).

Ultimately, it doesn’t truly matter whether Ichiro was voted in unanimously or not. It is a meaningless detail and the answer to a trivia question. A Hall of Famer is a Hall of Famer. Whether a player is elected in the first year he appears on the ballot or his last it makes little difference.

Still, the response — particularly from baseball media, including many other BBWAA voters — to one voter choosing not to vote for Ichiro has been telling. Several shared a sentiment similar to The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham:

Most BBWAA voters would prefer full transparency in the voting process. The group voted in favor of releasing all ballots publicly in recent years. The proposal was taken to the Hall of Fame, who ultimately denied it.

It won’t be a surprise to see the BBWAA present their proposal to the Hall once again, though it’s unclear if there are immediate plans to do so.

15 players (including the aforementioned Beltrán and Jones) fell below the needed 75% threshold and were named on more than 5% of ballots, meaning they’ll return to the ballot again next year. Wagner was the only one facing his 10th and final year of eligibility.

The group could benefit from shallow upcoming ballots. Cole Hamels is the most successful player among first-time eligible players appearing on next year’s ballot. Buster Posey and Jon Lester headline the following year’s group. Only Posey would seem like a lock for election.

The ballot will become more crowded again in 2028 with Albert Pujols, Robinson Canó, David Price, Stephen Strasburg, and Yadier Molina all becoming eligible.

Miguel Cabrera, Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, Adam Wainwright, and Joey Votto should follow the year after.

Both Beltrán and Jones would appear to have the clearest paths to election next year. The pair have both seen their voting percentages increase each year, though Jones’ growth has been much slower — likely due at least in part to his domestic violence history and a growing voter base with zero tolerance towards such allegations.

Chase Utley should also benefit greatly from the upcoming classes of eligible candidates. His support already increased from 28.8% to 39.8% after his second year on the ballot and he’s likely the top bat on next year’s ballot without any character-clause hesitations attached.

Andy Pettitte (27.6%, 7th year on the ballot), Felix Hernández (20.6%, 1st), and even Mark Buehrle (11.4%, 5th) could all see increases in support after Sabathia’s induction. As the game continues to evolve, the standards the voters use to determine the game’s best also must change. Old friend Lewie Pollis reinforced the idea in his response to the HOF voting results:

Dustin Pedroia (11.9%) and Hernández were the only other first-time eligible players to receive enough support to return to future ballots

Manny Ramirez (34.3%) will be the only player on next year’s ballot for the final time.

Álex Rodríguez (37.1%, 4th), Bobby Abreu (19.5%, 6th), Jimmy Rollins (18%, 4th), Omar Vizquel (17.8%, 8th), Francisco Rodriguez (10.2%, 3rd), David Wright (8.1%, 2nd), and Torii Hunter (5.1%, 5th) all face long roads to induction.