CC Sabathia’s anticipated election to the Baseball Hall of Fame will hopefully encourage people to think differently regarding the achievements of starting pitchers.

Bay Area native and lifelong Raiders fan CC Sabathia is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He enters Cooperstown along with legendary Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and Astros Pitcher Billy Wagner.

To this point, only famed Yankee closer Mariano Rivera has been elected to the Hall of Fame unanimously — not Babe Ruth, not Hank Aaron, not Ken Griffey Jr. nor Derek Jeter, just Rivera. Could Suzuki be the second?

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for the class of 2025. Three players are set to be enshrined in Cooperstown in this year's class: Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Shiki himself played baseball and was inducted into the Japanese hall of fame in a special berth. This poet of the Meiji era (1868-1912), who loved the newly introduced sport, may have appreciated the words of Ichiro: "Baseball could be a little more relaxed. Baseball could be a little more precise."

The distance from Ferrum, Virginia to Cooperstown, New York is a road far longer than just the miles between the two small towns.For Billy Wagner, it's a journe

Ichiro Suzuki, the dominant contact hitter whose 19 years in the major leagues, mostly with the Seattle Mariners, became the first Asian player elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Billy Wagner fought back tears after learning he had been voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2025 along with Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia,

It now appears it’s a question of when, not if, Carlos Beltrán will be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Next year could be his time. The ballot is wide open.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced their 2025 Hall of Fame class on Tuesday, with only three former players selected - Ichirio Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. Wagner, who was the only former Boston Red Sox selected,