Billy Wagner, who briefly pitched for the Red Sox in 2009 towards the tail end of his 16-year MLB career, has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his 10th and final year of eligibility.
Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia, each of whom were widely expected to cruise into Cooperstown, were also voted in as first-ballot inductees.
Suzuki fell one vote short of becoming the second unanimous inductee in Baseball Hall of Fame history, following New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in 2019. The Seattle Mariners great wound up earning 393 out of 394 votes (99.7%), with Sabathia earning 342 votes (86.8%) and Wagner 325 (82.5%).
Candidates needed to appear on 75% of all ballots cast to earn induction. Other notable Red Sox players who appeared on this year’s ballot were Manny Ramirez (34.3%) and Dustin Pedroia (11.9%).
Though he only pitched 15 games in Boston, allowing three earned runs in 13.2 innings, Wagner was for many years among the most dominant left-handed relievers the game had ever seen. The longtime Houston Astros closer recorded 422 saves and his 2.31 career ERA is the lowest among retired lefties with at least 500 innings pitched since 1920. He also tallied 1,196 strikeouts in 903 innings and was a seven-time All-Star.
While it took Wagner a full decade to earn his call, Suzuki and Sabathia’s Hall of Fame cases were effectively airtight.
After coming over from Japan at age 27, Suzuki won both Rookie of the Year and American League MVP in 2001 and went on to record 3,089 career hits, 10 All-Star nods and 10 Gold Gloves, among numerous other accolades, over 19 seasons.
Sabathia finished runner-up in the AL Rookie of the Year vote to Suzuki in 2001 and went on to post a 251-161 career record with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts over 19 years with the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 2007 and the following year became perhaps the most dominant trade rental in MLB history, joining the Brewers at the deadline and going 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and seven complete games in 17 starts down the stretch to lead Milwaukee to the playoffs. He won a World Series in his first year with the Yankees in 2009 and finished as a six-time All-Star.
Carlos Beltran (70.3%) and Andruw Jones (66.2%) were the highest vote-getters among players who were not elected.
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