The BBWAA has voted three players into the Hall of Fame this year
The results are in, and three players — Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner and C.C. Sabathia — have been elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. They will be joined in this year’s class by Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were voted in by the Classic Baseball Era Committee.
Ichiro was a slam-dunk to be inducted in his first year on the ballot, with the only question being whether or not he would be unanimous. He was not unanimous, as one of the 394 voters who returned ballots did not vote for him, but he is still in by one of the largest margins ever.
Sabathia was the other first year player to be elected this year, appearing on 86.8% of the ballots. Finally, Billy Wagner, in his 10th and final year on the ballot, was on 82.5% of the ballots cast.
Only two players had at least 40% of the vote but didn’t get to 75% — Andruw Jones, at 66.2% in his 8th year on the ballot, and Carlos Beltran, at 70.3% in his third year on the ballot.
Of the players on the ballot for the first time this year, Felix Hernandez and Dustin Pedroia got enough votes to stay on the ballot. Ian Kinsler had the most votes by a player who dropped off the ballot this year, getting 10 votes, or 2.5% overall.