2025 Hall of Fame Election

The results of the 2025 Hall of Fame Election was announced on January 21, 2025 with three players gaining election: CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner. Before that, on December 8, 2024, the Veterans Committee announced the result of its vote covering the Classic Era, with Dick Allen and Dave Parker being elected.

BBWAA Voting

Eligible members of the Baseball Writers Association of America voted on a ballot comprising holdover candidates from the 2024 Hall of Fame Election and players who played their last major league game in 2019. The final composition of the ballot was made public on November 18th.

Three players were named on the necessary 75% of ballots cast and thus gained election. Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia did so on their first try, with Ichiro coming within one vote of matching Mariano Rivera's feat of being elected unanimously, being named on 393 of 394 ballots. Sabathia received 342 votes (86.8%) while Wagner crossed the bar on his tenth and final appearance on the ballot, receiving 325 votes (82.5%). Two others came close to election - Carlos Beltran with 70.3% on his third try, and Andruw Jones with 66.2% on his 8th. Historically, such a high vote total has always led to election in short order - either through the BBWAA or through the Veterans Committee.

Player	Votes	Percentage	Year on the Ballot	Result
Ichiro Suzuki	393	99.7	1st	ELECTED
CC Sabathia	342	86.8	1st	ELECTED
Billy Wagner	325	82.5	10th	ELECTED
Carlos Beltran	277	70.3	3rd
Andruw Jones	261	66.2	8th
Chase Utley	157	39.8	2nd
Alex Rodriguez	146	37.1	4th
Manny Ramirez	135	34.3	9th
Andy Pettitte	110	27.9	7th
Felix Hernandez	81	20.6	1st
Bobby Abreu	77	19.5	6th
Jimmy Rollins	71	18.0	4th
Omar Vizquel	70	17.8	8th
Dustin Pedroia	47	11.9	1st
Mark Buehrle	45	11.4	5th
Francisco Rodriguez	40	10.2	3rd
David Wright	32	8.1	2nd
Torii Hunter	20	5.1	5th
Ian Kinsler	10	2.5	1st	Dropped
Russell Martin	9	2.3	1st	Dropped
Brian McCann	7	1.8	1st	Dropped
Troy Tulowitzki	4	1.0	1st	Dropped
Curtis Granderson	3	0.8	1st	Dropped
Adam Jones	3	0.8	1st	Dropped
Carlos Gonzalez	2	0.5	1st	Dropped
Hanley Ramirez	0	0.0	1st	Dropped
Fernando Rodney	0	0.0	1st	Dropped
Ben Zobrist	0	0.0	1st	Dropped

Veterans Committee

The Veterans Committee examined candidates from the Classic Era, covering the period prior to 1980. The 16 electors forming the committee met at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, TX on December 8th to discuss candidates on the ballot and cast their votes. Candidates needed to receive 75% of the vote (i.e. 12 votes) to be elected.

The ballot included eight names, including two from the Negro Leagues. The eight candidates were as follows: Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Vic Harris, Tommy John, Dave Parker and Luis Tiant. Allen and Parker gained election, with Allen receiving 13 votes and Parker 14, while other vote totals were not released. Parker was still alive to enjoy the honor, although he would pass away one month before his induction ceremony.

Other Awards

Long-time Washington Post baseball writer Thomas Boswell was named the winner of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, while Tom Hamilton was the winner of the Ford Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting.

Induction

The induction ceremony for the five new Hall of Famers took place in Cooperstown, NY on July 27th. The three new Hall of Famers elected by the BBWAA attended in person. Dave Parker had been alive at the time of his election, but sadly passed away from Parkinson's disease a month before the ceremony. Parker's son David represented his father and read the speech he had prepared. Ichiro Suzuki was the first Japanese player to be enshrined, but spoke in English for the occasion. In Billy Wagner's case, his son Will Wagner took two days off from playing with the Toronto Blue Jays to be present at the ceremony, with MLB agreeing to have the Jays replace him on the roster so he would not miss the historic occasion. Dick Allen was represented by his wife Willa.

Further Reading

• "Experts predict this year's Hall of Fame voting", mlb.com, December 20, 2024. [1]
• Paul Casella: "8 players up for Hall of Fame on Classic Era ballot", mlb.com, November 4, 2024. [2]
• Anthony Castrovince: "First-timers Ichiro, CC and elite closer Wagner elected to Hall", mlb.com, January 22, 2025. [3]
• Anthony Castrovince: "Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner, Parker, Allen take rightful spots in Hall", mlb.com, July 27, 2025. [4]
• Theo De Rosa: "Most underrated? Best SP? Experts debate 2025 HOF ballot", mlb.com, December 23, 2024. [5]
• Mark Feinsand: "Explaining my HOF ballot (and the time I stepped on Ichiro's hand)", mlb.com, January 18, 2025. [6]
• Bryan Hoch: "Sabathia cements legacy as first-ballot Hall of Famer", mlb.com, January 22, 2025. [7]
• Bryan Hoch: "Consistency, leadership among hallmarks of CC's HOF career", mlb.com, July 20, 2025. [8]
• Daniel Kramer: "Ichiro elected to Hall of Fame, JUST shy of unanimous vote", mlb.com, January 22, 2025. [9]
• Daniel Kramer: "For living legend Ichiro, induction to Hall is about giving back", mlb.com, July 21, 2025. [10]
• Bill Ladson: "Breaking down the Hall of Fame candidates on the Classic Baseball Era ballot", mlb.com, December 4, 2024. [11]
• Bill Ladson: "Dick Allen, Dave Parker elected to Hall of Fame by Classic Era Committee", mlb.com, December 9, 2024. [12]
• Brian McTaggart: "'Everything I do has been a blessing': Wagner's wait ends with HOF election", mlb.com, January 22, 2025. [13]
• Brian McTaggart: "Wagner filled with gratitude for path from Virginia farms to Hall of Fame", mlb.com, July 18, 2025. [14]
• Brian Murphy: "Standouts of their era highlight 2025 Hall of Fame ballot", mlb.com, November 18, 2024. [15]
• Alex Stumpf: "Parker's long-awaited HOF speech to be read by son at Cooperstown", mlb.com, July 18, 2025. [16]

Related Sites

• Complete voting results