NEW YORK – AUGUST 29: CC Sabathia #52 greets Ichiro Suzuki #31 of the New York Yankees after an … [+]
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will announce the results from the 81st election held by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) on Tuesday, January 21st at 6 p.m. ET on the MLB Network. Debates regarding the 2025 ballot have primarily focused on whether outfielder Ichiro Suzuki will become the second unanimous electee after right-handed pitcher Mariano Rivera (2019) and if left-handed pitcher Billy Wagner will receive the required 75% of support on the ballots cast by BBWAA voters in his tenth and final year of eligibility. Wagner fell short by five votes in last year’s election. In his first year of eligibility, left-handed pitcher CC Sabathia is noticeably absent from most of the conversations since it is believed that Sabathia will stand on a dais this summer at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, New York giving his Hall of Fame induction speech. However, Sabathia’s anticipated election goes well beyond whether he receives support on at least 90% of the ballots cast by the BBWAA voters.
According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, there are 348 elected members with 84 who earned enshrinement through achievements as pitchers. Out of the 84, the BBWAA have elected 45 pitchers to the hallowed halls of Cooperstown with 18 in their first year of eligibility. The BBWAA have been the gatekeepers to baseball immortality since 1936, but they have only elected two Black pitchers to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: right-handers Bob Gibson (1981) and Ferguson Jenkins (1991). Gibson was elected in his first year of eligibility and received 84.0% of the vote while Jenkins was enshrined in his third year of eligibility after receiving support on 75.4% of the ballots.
In 1971, right-handed pitcher Satchel Paige was the first electee to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum from the Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues. As Black pitchers are modestly represented in the venerable plaque gallery, most of their enshrinements have come through various iterations of the Veterans Committee and two Special Committees on the Negro Leagues. Sabathia could become the first Black left-handed pitcher elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum by the BBWAA.
The Black Aces And CC Sabathia’s Legacy
A distinguished member of the Black Aces, Sabathia is one of 15 Black pitchers from the United States and Canada who has achieved at least 20 victories in a season for a major league ball club. Sabathia accomplished this feat in 2010 when he posted a 21-7 record while pitching for the New York Yankees. He could join Gibson and Jenkins as the only Black Aces enshrined in Cooperstown. The trio are also members of the 3,000-strikeout club while Gibson and Sabathia both finished their careers with 251 wins which were 33 less than the Canadian-born Jenkins (284). Out of the 19 members of the 3,000-strikeout club, nine have posted a career strikeout percentage of at least 20.0% with Sabathia (20.6%) surpassing both Gibson (19.4%) and Jenkins (17.3%) in this statistical category according to Baseball-Reference.
The following chart identifies 13 starting pitchers who have achieved at least 500 games started, … [+]
Chart created with DatawrapperSabathia’s Hall of Fame candidacy doesn’t require a tremendous amount of examination when it comes to determining the worthiness of being elected in his first year of eligibility. It could be summarized in four statistics: games started, wins, strikeouts and innings pitched. According to Baseball-Reference, Sabathia is one of 13 pitchers who have surpassed 500 games started, 250 wins, 3,000 strikeouts and 3,500 innings pitched. Besides Sabathia, only two other left-handed pitchers have achieved these impressive statistical milestones: Hall of Famers Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson.
Sabathia was the personification of intimidation and determination. He demonstrated remarkable athleticism and durability for a 6-foot-6, 300-pound starting pitcher as it wasn’t until the latter stages of his career where the violence of Sabathia’s pitching windup caused extraordinary damage to his right knee. Over the course of 19 major league seasons (2001-2019), Sabathia started at least 30 ball games 12 times according to Baseball-Reference. In 560 starts, Sabathia pitched at least seven innings in a ball game on 257 occasions, the most out of any starting pitcher during this period. Also, he threw at least 100 pitches in a ball game 345 times with only right-handed starting pitcher Justin Verlander (357) ahead of Sabathia during his playing career.