MLB unveiled the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot on Monday, featuring a long list of newcomers that many fans will recognize.
Ichiro Suzuki, Dustin Pedroia and CC Sabathia headlined the names added to the ballot this year, which also include Carlos Gonzalez, Curtis Granderson, Felix Hernandez, Adam Jones, Ian Kinsler, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney, Troy Tulowitzki and Ben Zobrist:
The 14 new candidates are joined by 14 returnees to the Hall of Fame ballot. The final results of the ballot will be announced on Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network.
One of the most influential players in baseball history, Suzuki was the first-ever Japanese-born position player to be posted by Nippon Professional Baseball and signed to an MLB team.
Upon joining the Seattle Mariners in 2001, he made an immediate splash by leading the American League in batting average and stolen bases on his way to earning AL Rookie of the Year and MVP honors. He set an MLB single-season record with 262 hits in 2004 and joined the MLB 3,000 hits club in 2016. He totaled 4,367 hits in his professional career across NPB and MLB, the most of any player in modern history. His presence opened the door for more Japanese-born players to join MLB, such as Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
Another former AL Rookie of the Year and MVP, Pedroia spent his entire career with the Boston Red Sox and established himself as a franchise legend. He helped lead the team to World Series titles in 2007 and 2013 and was a four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner at second base.
One of the most intimidating pitchers of his era, Sabathia dominated on the mound for the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees, winning a World Series title with the latter in 2009. He earned the AL Cy Young Award in 2007 and led MLB in wins in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010. The six-time All-Star joined the MLB 3,000 strikeouts club in 2019, becoming just the third lefthander to reach the historic mark.
Earlier this year, Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Fans will certainly be excited to see who joins them as part of the 2025 class.
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