In electing Wagner, the BBWAA has defined the modern-day closer as its own entity, with candidates’ credentials measured not against the whole of the body but against this specific peer group.

The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The players and then the public learned the results of the 2025 vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday.