On Tuesday, January 21, the Baseball Writers Association of America officially announced their picks for the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee class. The three new faces joining baseball immortality are Ichiro Suzuki, C.C Sabathia, and Billy Wagner.
This year’s Baseball Hall of Fame class is very talented. Suzuki was one of the best contact hitters of all time, Sabathia had one of the most dominant peaks of any SP and Wagner had unusual long-term success from a closer.
Suzuki is a historic hall of fame choice for several reasons. He’s the first Japanese player ever to make the Baseball Hall of Fame. Suzuki had a great career in Japan before joining the Mariners in 2001. Between the two leagues he has more hits than any other player with 4,367. Suzuki received 99.7 percent of votes. He was just one vote shy of being a unanimous hall of fame inductee. As of 2025 Mariano Rivera is the only unanimous hall of fame inductee.
Suzuki had 200 or more hits in every season from his rookie season in 2001 to 2010. This ties Suzuki with Pete Rose for the most seasons with 200 or more hits. He’s the only player to do it in consecutive seasons. Despite not hitting for a ton of power, Suzuki had an ability to put the bat to the ball that almost no one had.
Photo via PBS
Suzuki entered the league with a bang in 2001, becoming just the second rookie to win MVP. Although this ended up being his lone MVP season, his best season was 2004. He had an unreal .372 batting average with 262 hits. It was also the best defensive season of his career. He had 2.5 defensive wins above replacement and won the gold glove.
C.C Sabathia
One of the biggest questions following Sabthia’s retirement is if he’d enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. Those questions were answered pretty easily as he entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Sabathia reached two massive milestones, 250 wins, and 3,000 strikeouts. Only 19 pitchers have 3,000 or more strikeouts. 15 of the 19 are in the hall of fame including Sabathia.
2008 was his contract year, and he ended up earning a big payday with the best season of his career. He started the season in Cleveland before being traded to the Brewers. His stint with the Brewers is what makes this season memorable. He had a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts. Towards the end of the season, he was pitching on three days’ rest, even though he didn’t have a contract for the next season. Despite leaving in free agency for the Yankees he is remembered as one of the best trade deadline acquisitions ever.
Unlike Suzuki and Wagner, it wasn’t entirely clear what cap Sabathia would wear on his hall of fame plaque. Sabathia had very similar numbers in Cleveland and the Yankees. Ultimately, he decided a while ago if he got in he’d rep the Yankees. He achieved the majority of his major accomplishments with the Yankees, including a World Series ring in 2009.
Billy Wagner
The previous two players got the ultimate honor of being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Meanwhile, Wagner had to wait until his 10th year of eligibility. This was his final chance to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame through a writer’s vote. Wagner is one of eight relievers to have 400 or more saves in their career. He reached his save total in just 903 innings.
Wagner pitched eight seasons with the Astros. His best season was in Houston in 1999. In this season he had a 1.57 ERA, 39 saves, a 0.77 WHIP, a 287 ERA+, and a 1.65 FIP. He finished fourth in Cy Young voting and 16th in MVP voting for the National League. A reliever getting serious consideration for either award is rare. This season saw a reliever, Emmanuel Clase, get Cy Young and MVP consideration, but it’s far from every season you see this.
