Suzuki is the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous. NEW YORK (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected Tuesday along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

CC Sabathia will go into the Baseball Hall of Fame with a New York Yankees hat on his plaque. Sabathia learned of his election on Tuesday and soon after confirmed his intentions to go into Cooperstown this summer as a Yankee.

The guy who finished first was a 27-year-old import from Japan named Ichiro Suzuki. On Tuesday night, Ichiro and Sabathia entered the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on the first ballot. Ichiro received 99.7% of the vote, missing a unanimous selection by one vote. Sabathia was elected by 86.8% of the vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Six-time MLB All-Star CC Sabathia is anxiously awaiting what could be the crowning achievement of his storied 19-year career on Monday. Hours before

Sabathia, the 19-year Major League Baseball veteran who for three months in 2008 carried the Milwaukee Brewers to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years on his left shoulder, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame with a vote of 86.6% Tuesday night on his first time on the ballot.

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner reached the necessary 75% support on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot revealed Tuesday. Complete results.

Ichiro Suzuki had already cemented a strong, and likely everlasting baseball card market long before Tuesday’s almost unanimous vote for his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, headlining the class of 2025.

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.

CC Sabathia’s career ended abruptly. Yes, the longtime Yankees left-hander had announced months earlier his plans to retire after the 2019 season, but his final appearance did not go as ceremoniously as Derek Jeter’s or Mariano Rivera’s.

CC Sabathia understands his place in history. The former Yankees ace was pretty much a lock to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the last great, dominant workhorse starters in the game. When he got elected the first time he appeared on the ballot, however, Sabathia could not hide his feelings about how special that was.

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner heard their names called and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y. on July 27. Suzuki becomes the first Japanese player chosen for the honor, while Wagner earns the call in his final year on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot.