Ichiro, Sabathia, Wagner elected to Hall Of Fame

The Hall of Fame announced the results of this year’s Baseball Writers Association of America poll. Ichiro, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner topped the 75% threshold for induction. They will join Dick Allen and Dave Parker in the 2025 class. Allen and Parker were selected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee at the Winter Meetings. Ichiro appeared on 99.7% of the ballots, falling one vote short of unanimity.

Two of the three inductees, Ichiro and Sabathia, are making it to Cooperstown in their first year on the ballot. Wagner gets his 10th and final opportunity. He had fallen just one percentage point shy last winter, jumping out to an 82% share of the vote with the writers having their last chance to pick him.

Ichiro starred in his homeland before making the switch to the big leagues during the 2000-01 offseason. He signed a three-year deal with the Mariners and immediately became one of the best players in franchise history. Ichiro led the majors with 242 hits and 56 stolen bases. He hit .350 to win the AL batting title atop a loaded Seattle lineup. The ’01 Mariners won 116 games and remain the best regular season team in MLB history. They lost a five-game Championship Series to the Yankees.

It was one of the best debut seasons ever. Ichiro was an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove award in right field. He not only won the award as Rookie of the Year, but narrowly passed it Jason Giambi to win the MVP. He came along Fred Lynn as the only rookies to be named Most Valuable Player.

Although it would be the only time Ichiro finished top five in MVP voting, he was the game’s best pure hitter for a decade. He topped 200 hits with an average north of .300 in each of his first 10 seasons. He had arguably his best season in 2004, when he led the majors with a .372 average and collected a career-best 262 hits. Ichiro was a threat on the bases throughout his prime, topping 30 stolen bases on 10 occasions. He was also the sport’s best defensive right fielder, paired plus range with an elite arm and twice led the AL in outfield assists.

An incredibly durable player, Ichiro topped 150 games played in 13 seasons. He led the majors in hits seven times and was selected to the All-Star Game in each of his first 10 years in the big leagues. Ichiro remained an outstanding player throughout his age 36 season. He played all the way until he was 45, seeing action with the Yankees and Marlins. Ichiro collected his 3000th career hit while playing for Miami, do it in style with a triple against the Colorados Chris Rusin at Coors Field. Ichiro returned to Seattle for the end of his career, ending it in a two-game series between the Mariners and the A’s in front of Japanese fans at the Tokyo Dome to start the 2019 season.

Ichiro finished his major league career as a .311 hitter, tallying 3089 hits. That would be a remarkable feat for any player, but it’s especially impressive for someone who spent a couple of his best seasons in NPB and didn’t make his major league debut until he was 27. Ichiro was never much of a power threat in games, though many believe he could have been a power bat if he had prioritized that over elite pure hitting ability. Regardless, he finished with 117 career homers and stole more than 500 bases. He won 10 Gold Gloves and three Silver Slugger awards.

More to come.