Ichiro Suzuki had already cemented a strong, and likely everlasting baseball card market long before Tuesday’s almost unanimous vote for his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, headlining the class of 2025.

Other bits of intrigue ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. announcement: Will CC Sabathia be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and is this the year Billy Wagner gets in?

Suzuki came in first in terms of voting with 393, making history as the first Japanese-born player elected to the Hall of Fame. He was close to making history again as he was nearly unanimous– and he would have been in some pretty weighty company to share with Yankee legends Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.

After his election into the baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, CC Sabathia said he wants a Yankees logo on the cap on his plaque in Cooperstown. “I love the other organizations,” Sabathia said. “But this is home. I found a home in the Bronx and I don't think I'll ever leave this city, so I think it’s only fitting.”

In Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, the Baseball Writers Association delivered quite an eclectic trifecta to Cooperstown on Tuesday. The first Japanese player ever elected to the Hall of Fame,

Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday. Billy Wagner also received enough votes to round out the 2025 Hall of Fame class. Results were unveiled in an election show on MLB Network.

Suzuki's close call means New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only unanimous electee. Rivera received all 425 votes in 2019. Another longtime Yankees icon, shortstop Derek Jeter, came within one vote of unanimous election in 2020. Suzuki, Rivera and Jeter were teammates with New York from 2012-13.

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

The New York Yankees are the winningest team in Major League Baseball history, and they have had countless household names play for them over the years. From Hall of Famers to current superstars, the Yankees have it all when it comes to talented players over the years.

Six-time MLB All-Star CC Sabathia is anxiously awaiting what could be the crowning achievement of his storied 19-year career on Monday. Hours before

CC Sabathia’s career ended abruptly. Yes, the longtime Yankees left-hander had announced months earlier his plans to retire after the 2019 season, but his final appearance did not go as ceremoniously as Derek Jeter’s or Mariano Rivera’s.