With the calendar about to turn to February, it feels like a good time to throw our baseball coverage into gear! This past week was Hall of Fame week, which saw three players get the most famous call in the game, to join the final team they’ll ever be on. We’ll talk about the new members of the Hall as well as next year’s ballot and how it will play out. So let’s meet the inductees who will join Dick Allen and Dave Parker on induction day.

First Base

There’s Only one Ichiro: And unfortunately there is one fool who didn’t vote him. The one and only Ichiro Suzuki got the call from Cooperstown this week, receiving 99.7% of the vote, just one short of unanimous. He’s certainly on the list of players who deserved to be unanimous, but let’s not get too sidetracked with that. His 19-year career with the Mariners, Yankees and Marlins saw him win the AL MVP, rookie of the year, ten gold gloves, two batting titles and ten all star appearances. His 3,089 hits speaks to caliber of hitter he was, especially when put alongside his stats from Japan, which would make him the all time hit king. He kept the Mariners relevant and really became a fan favorite around the league no matter the circumstances. It’s often said Ichiro could do anything he wanted on a baseball field, whether that be hit for power or hit .400. He was beyond special in all aspects of the game.

He’s pretty good with a joke too…

Second Base

Cooperstown Calls CC: Our next inductee is the big man himself! No not Clarence Clemons, it’s big lefty ace CC Sabathia, one of my personal favorite players. Very few pitchers were as consistently good as the Vallejo California native, who put up a brilliant 19 year career with the Indians, Brewers and Yankees. In those 19 seasons he went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA, while collecting a CY Young award, ALCS MVP, and making six all star appearances, and of course a ring with the 09 Yankees. Perhaps my favorite Sabathia stat is his 10 complete games in 2008, just a portion of his career 38, an art form gone from the modern game. While he was great in Cleveland and shined as a Yankee in big games, his defining moment as an ace came in 08 season as he was acquired by the Brewers at the trade deadline and dragged Milwaukee to the trade deadline. Very few inductees are as likable or classy as number 52, welcome to Cooperstown CC!

Third Base

Closing the Book on Candidacy: The third and final new inductee is a man who waited and waited for the phone to ring, much like he did his whole career. That of course is closer Billy Wagner, except rather than the waiting on the bullpen phone for eight innings, he was waiting for Jack O’Connell from the Hall of Fame to call him…for ten years. Wagner pitched brilliantly across his 18 year career for the Astros, Phillies, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves. He went 47-40 with a 2.31 ERA, made seven All Star teams, and relieved of the year in 1999. Most importantly, he was reliably there in the ninth inning, slamming the door 422 times, eighth most all time in MLB history. He was seemingly held back by his postseason track record, as brief as it was. Wagner was an intimidating presence on the bump and a deserving recipient of the call this past week!

Home Plate

Whose Phone Rings Next?: The 2026 ballot is an interesting case for the voting body. Of the returning candidates, Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltran, who narrowly missed in 2025, will almost certainly get in on this go around. I’d expect to see fellow returnees Chase Utley and Andy Pettitte to take a jump next year as well, some current voters said they look forward to boosting their candidacy next year. Perhaps even known steroid users Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez will climb a bit on this ballot too, though I don’t expect either to get in.

Why all this increased voting for returning players? In short it’s because really none of the new players on the ballot have much of a Hall of Fame case to make. That is not to say they weren’t very good players for many years, but in the end this isn’t “The Hall of Very Good,” even if they did let Harold Baines and Mike Mussina in. You could maybe try to build a case for Cole Hamels, sure Edwin Encarnacion hit 409 homers, and maybe you’re willing to overlook Ryan Braun’s steroid use and behavior…but are any of them really Hall of Famers? Not on my opinion. So I’d back on two new members next year, Jones and Beltran, and call it a day.

Hall of Fame voting has been incredibly hot button really across sports nowadays. We all have our differing opinions on players, but in the end it’s amazing personal moment for the players inducted. So congrats to this year’s class and I look forward to hearing all of their speeches on induction day!

On Twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon!