With CC Sabathia heading into Cooperstown, take a look back at the 2008 season finale that launched the Brewers into the playoffs.

Also newly eligible next year are Matt Kemp, the runner-up to Braun for that MVP, as well as 2016 Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello and longtime Kansas City Royals standout Alex Gordon.

The leading 2025 vote-getters who will return to the 2026 ballot are Carlos Beltran (70.3%), Andruw Jones (66.2%) and Chase Utley (39.8%), along a handful of other holdovers. In addition to Hamels and Braun, 2026 first-timers will include Edwin Encarnacion, Howie Kendrick, Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Gordon.

Ichiro Suzuki is the first Japanese-born player voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He'll be joined by CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner in the Class of 2025.

NEW YORK — 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.

Sabathia retired after the 2019 season, ending a career that featured a Cy Young Award in 2007 and a World Series title with the Yankees in 2009. The lefty eventually registered 251 wins and 3,093

Used to leading off, Ichiro Suzuki got antsy when he had to wait. Considered a no-doubt pick for baseball's Hall of Fame and possibly the second unanimous selection, he waited by the

(Two-time All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis also joins the ballot in 2026. Kipnis grew up Jewish but is now a practicing Roman Catholic — though he once celebrated a home run with a “Hava Nagila” dugout dance .)

The Cooperstown candidacies of Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones might benefit by the lack of slam-dunk newcomers to the 2026 Hall of Fame ballot.

Ichiro Suzuki has made history as the first Japanese player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, leading the 2024 class alongside CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.