On Monday night, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announced the ballot for the 2025 MLB Hall of Fame. This year the league has announced 14 newcomers with the likes of Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia being the headliners.
Every year, the BBWAA unveils the names of the players who are eligible for the Hall of Famer. Apart from players appearing on the ballot for the first time, several holdovers get another chance to reach Cooperstown.
A player gets ten chances to get elected into the MLB Hall of Fame. They need to achieve a total of 75 percent from the BBWAA writers to get in. Of all the returning players, Billy Wagner is in the last year of eligibility this time out. Last year, he fell just short of entering the HOF with 73.8 percent.
Along with him, Alex Rodriguez is another key name that is returning for a chance to join some of the top players in an incredible list. Also known by his moniker of ‘A-Rod’, the former New York Yankees star is now in his fourth year of eligibility. His history of usage of Performance-enhancing Drugs (PEDs) has been a key reason why he has not been a Hall of Famer yet.
Check out the tweet by MLB below to find out who the other players are:
The 2025 Hall of Fame Ballot is out! Who’s getting the call in January? ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mpBVArOt22
— MLB (@MLB) November 18, 2024
The spotlight though is definitely on the former Yankees duo of Suzuki and Sabathia. The two of them went face to face for the 2001 MLB AL Rookie of the Year Award. It was the Japanese international who won it while playing for the Seattle Mariners at that time.
They would go on to spend three seasons in New York with the Yankees from 2012 to 2014. Suzuki would later join the Miami Marlins.
The announcement of the 2025 MLB Hall of Fame ballot has received a plethora of reactions on social media. Fans on X have flooded the platforms to give their ‘unofficial’ vote regarding who should make it to the HOF and not.
Several fans claimed that Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia along with Felix Hernandez should be unanimous inductees. Meanwhile, one fan claimed that it would be a “no-brainer” to not have Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran, Billy Wagner, Andy Pettitte, and Chase Utley in Cooperstown.
Check out some of the top reactions from X below:
Ichiro and CC are the only worthy ones from this group.
— Robert Fullmer-Zapp 🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@rgfullmer) November 18, 2024
Ichiro. That’s it
— Da Hook (@OffDaHook35) November 19, 2024
1. CC
2. Ichiro
3. Beltran
4. Andruw Jones
5. Manny
6. A-Rod
7. Chase Utley
8. Billy Wagner— Alex (@benjamntenison1) November 18, 2024
New:
Ichiro
King Felix
CCReturning:
Probably no one, but eventually…
Jones
Pettitte
Rollins
WagnerAs a @Mets fan, I wish I could justify Wright, but I just don’t see it.
Veterans Committee (or w/e it’s called now) should vote in Keith Hernandez & Don Mattingly. 🙏
— Crypto_Jesus (@verifiedjeff) November 18, 2024
Ichiro shouldn’t even be on the ballot. He should be automatic
— Sir Jair A. Brooks-Davis (@BrooksJair) November 18, 2024
A-Rod, Pettite, Ichiro, Utley, Wagner are all no brainers that should be in.
— Zach Wilson (@televisionaryZW) November 18, 2024
Beltran, king felix, pettite, arod, rollins, cc, ichiro
— kyle🗽 (@NewYorkFanKyle) November 18, 2024
What a list. Just absolute studs
— Pat Sharp (@PatSharp100185) November 18, 2024
Sabathia
Suzuki— LI Sports Fan (@LIsportsfans) November 19, 2024
CC and Ichiro are locks. The rest are ?
— Steven Negishi🇺🇦 (@AsianSportsFan1) November 19, 2024
Who will eventually get in and who will miss out is now in the hands of the BBWAA writers. They will have time till December 31, 2024, to cast their votes. The results of these votes will be announced on January 21, 2025.
