CC Sabathia is a first-ballot Hall of Famer with historic numbers, but he almost cut the end of his Yankees career short.

Hall of Famer CC Sabathia. That's how he would like you to refer to him now. Tuesday night, Sabathia was announced as baseball's newest Hall of Famer, joining Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner in the 2025 class.

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2025. The final results were unveiled Tuesday

While Sabathia was a runaway choice in the Hall of Fame election, selected on 86.8% of the ballots by the Baseball Writers' Association of America – joining peers Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner – this ultimate honor meant much, much more than just a museum plaque in Cooperstown, N.Y.

CC Sabathia will go into the Baseball Hall of Fame with a New York Yankees hat on his plaque. Sabathia learned of his election on Tuesday and soon after confirmed his intentions to go into Cooperstown this summer as a Yankee.

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

The guy who finished first was a 27-year-old import from Japan named Ichiro Suzuki. On Tuesday night, Ichiro and Sabathia entered the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on the first ballot. Ichiro received 99.7% of the vote, missing a unanimous selection by one vote. Sabathia was elected by 86.8% of the vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

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.

Former New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia, who spent 11 of his 19 big league seasons in pinstripes, officially joined the National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 on Tuesday. The 6-foot-6 left-hander was selected on 342 out of 394 ballots (86.