Fourteen new Hall of Fame candidates are on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot, including two former Yankees with real chances of getting inducted in their first year of eligibility.
The ballot, which also includes 14 holdovers and was released on Monday, is headlined by newcomers Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia. Sabathia has the strongest ties of any newbie to the Yankees, as he spent 11 seasons in the Bronx. The lefty won ALCS MVP and the World Series in 2009, his first year in pinstripes.
Sabathia, who spent the first eight years of his career in Cleveland before a half-season in Milwaukee, also claimed a Cy Young award in 2007, won 251 games, earned six All-Star selections, and is one of 19 pitchers in the 3,000 strikeout club.
Sabathia, who is in Cleveland’s Hall of Fame, ended his career with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts over 3,577.1 innings.
“That was the first time I really, really, really thought about it,” Sabathia said last offseason after a recent trip to Cooperstown. “And I was like, ‘Damn, I really want to be in the Hall of Fame.’ I never thought about being in the Hall of Fame when I was playing, but going up there it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is cool.’”
It remains to be seen if Sabathia, well-liked by the writers who vote for the BBWAA ballot, will get in right away. Suzuki, on the other hand, is a virtual lock after a highly-decorated career in Japan and the United States.
Suzuki will surely wear a Mariners cap on his plaque after 14 seasons with the team, but he also spent three years with the Yankees from 2012-2014. With 3,089 hits in the states and 1,278 more for the Orix Blue Wave, the speedy outfielder wowed international audiences from ages 18 to 45.
Suzuki, who also spent three seasons with the Marlins, is one of just two players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. There are also 10 Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, two batting titles and an All-Star Game MVP Award on his résumé.
Other newbies on the ballot with ties to the Yankees include Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin, Brian McCann and Troy Tulowitzki. Holdover Yankees on the ballot include Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, Andy Pettitte and Álex Rodríguez.
Rodríguez finished his career with 696 homers, three MVP awards and a World Series ring, but his ties to performance-enhancing drugs have kept him and other sluggers of his era out of the Hall of Fame. Rodríguez received just 34.8% of the vote last year.
Candidates require 75%.
With that in mind, ex-Met Billy Wagner (73.8% last year) has a good shot at getting in this time. Jones (61.6%) could as well.
The full BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot can be seen below. So can the Classic Baseball Era Committee ballot, which includes ex-Yankees Tommy John and Luis Tiant.
BBWAA Ballot: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Mark Buehrle, Carlos González, Curtis Granderson, Félix Hernández, Torii Hunter, Adam Jones, Andruw Jones, Ian Kinsler, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Dustin Pedroia, Andy Pettitte, Hanley Ramírez, Manny Ramírez, Fernando Rodney, Álex Rodríguez, Francisco Rodríguez, Jimmy Rollins, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Troy Tulowitzki, Chase Utley, Omar Vizquel, Billy Wagner, David Wright, Ben Zobrist
Classic Baseball Era Committee Ballot: Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Vic Harris, Tommy John, Dave Parker, Luis Tiant
