On January 21, CC Sabathia, a graduate of North Vallejo (Calif.) Little League, received the call every baseball player dreams of, earning his selection for a bronze plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Sabathia, whose mother was named the recipient of the George and Barbara Bush Little League Parents of the Year Award in 2010, will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame in July 2025.
To be eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame, players must be named on at least 75% of the ballots cast by eligible voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). After a total of 394 ballots were submitted in 2025, Sabathia earned the honor with 86.8% of the votes while Suzuki fell one vote shy of a unanimous vote at 99.7%. Rounding out this year’s selection was Billy Wagner, who earned 82.5%.
CC Sabathia – North Vallejo (Calif.) Little League
Sabathia earns the honor in his first year on the ballot after a stellar 19-season career on the mound that saw 251 career wins, 3,093 strikeouts, a 3.74 career ERA, six All-Star selections, two-time MLB wins leader (2009, ’10), a 2007 AL Cy Young Award, and a 2009 MLB World Series Championship with the New York Yankees where he earned the ALCS MVP along the way. A three-sport athlete growing up, Sabathia became the person he is today largely in part because of the influence his own mother had on him throughout his Little League days and beyond, from spending time volunteering in the snack bar at his games to suiting up in catcher’s gear day after day to support her son’s passion. Today, Sabathia continues to give back to the game through his own foundation to help renovate baseball fields and support inner city children.
In addition to Sabathia, Suzuki earned himself a unanimous ticket into the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 after a prestigious MLB career that started with him as the first position player from Japan in big league history. While not a Little Leaguer himself, Suzuki has been an inspiration to young baseball players across Japan and around the world throughout his entire baseball career, from his efforts on growing the game of baseball internationally to his unwavering support of female baseball players, Suzuki has continued serve as a tremendous role model for Little Leaguers everywhere. In August 2025, just a month after his own induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, his former team will make its way to Williamsport as the Seattle…
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