Results Are In

By now you probably know who was voted into the Hall of Fame this year. As I predicted a couple of days ago Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner were elected, but I was wrong on my forecast that Carlos Beltran would receive the necessary 75% to be elected and C C Sabathia would not be a first year eligible inductee,

Ichiro fell one short of being a unanimous selection. We don’t know yet who didn’t vote for him, much less why. I do wonder if it’s the same bozo who didn’t vote for Derek Jeter, who also missed 100% approval by one vote in 2020. It will be interesting to see if we find out more in the next few days.

As far as Billy Wagner’s election, I will simply say that it’s about time! There were still 69 who still didn’t vote for him, but 325 did. If you didn’t see my comments a couple of days ago, take a look. He is truly one of the best relievers of all time.

I didn’t expect C C Sabathia to be elected in his first year to appear on the ballot, but I certainly don’t have a problem with it. There was a time when his starts were “must see”. He is one of only 15 pitchers to have at least 250 wins and 3000 strikeouts.

Carlos Beltran needed only 19 more voters to be elected, and much to my chagrin, Andrew Jones was 35 short. No-one else received as much as 40% of the total needed. Both of these players are definitely Hall-worthy.

There are no names that jump out on the list of those eligible for the first time in 2026. Hopefully this will clear the way for Beltran and Jones to receive their due, and maybe strengthen the cases of Andy Pettitte, Chase Utley, Felix Hernandez and others. For now Congratulations to the three newest additions to Cooperstown.

That’s one man’s opinion - what’s yours?