CC Sabathia was an ace. You know who screamed this fact loudest? Not me. The sport did. The sport told us what the final numbers didn’t.

Chase Utley and Ian Kinsler had virtually identical careers from a stats and awards perspective, but their Hall of Fame cases vary widely.

The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.

There was no doubt about Ichiro and little doubt about CC Sabathia, but one-time Phillies closer Billy Wagner still had to sweat it out in his 10th and final year on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot,

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.

Ichiro Suzuki missed unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame by one vote Tuesday night when he headlined a three-player class selected by the 394 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Tuesday is one of the holy days on the baseball calendar, the announcement of players voted into the Hall of Fame. The honor is extreme and well-earned, with just over 1% of all big leaguers making it to Cooperstown for what they did as players: 275 out of 23,370.

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

A leadoff hitter, an ace starter and a lockdown closer walk into a Hall … It’s no joke. The National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 is complete after Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner

Chase Utley made gains in the his second year on the Hall of Fame ballot. We look at how he and the seven other former Dodgers did on the 2025 ballot. Ichiro, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner were inducted to Cooperstown.

Baseball Hall of Fame voting results will be revealed Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network, and it is far from certain who will earn induction

Suzuki is the first Japanese player elected, falling one vote shy of unanimous. The trio will be inducted on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with classic era committee picks Dave Parker and