Baseball Hall of Fame voters have a New York Yankees bias. Just ask Atlanta Braves Hall of Famer Chipper Jones.
In a video posted on X by sports writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz, Wagner leaned against a pool table while taking the call. He listened for more than 15 seconds before he put his hand on his face, fighting tears and hunching over. “Thank you,” he eventually said to the person on the other end of the phone.
The BBWAA recognized CC Sabathia’s prolonged excellence by voting the former Yankees left-hander into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.
The three stalwarts were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday and will be enshrined in Cooperstown this summer.
The results of the BBWAA component of Hall of Fame voting were revealed Tuesday night, with Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia becoming first-ballot Hall of Famers while Billy Wagner made it on his 10th and final try.
Billy Wagner received 82.5 percent of the tally from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, after he missed by just five votes last year.
If Sabathia and Beltran get in, it could be the first time players identified as Yankees and Mets on their Hall of Fame plaques are enshrined in the same year.
Sabathia, Suzuki and Wagner Get Their "Hall Pass" In Cooperstown Sabathia, Suzuki and Wagner Get In Cooperstown
Lefty pitchers Billy Wagner and CC Sabathia both earned their spots in the Baseball Hall of Fame, joining near-unanimous selection Ichiro
Ichiro Suzuki becomes the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of being a unanimous selection.
Ichiro Suzuki, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected as the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the museum announced.