Billy Wagner, elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on his final year on ballot, visits Cooperstown ahead of July's induction ceremony.

To gain entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Billy Wagner completed a climb few candidates have managed. Wagner, the former Houston Astros closer, attained the 75% support from voters required for election in his final year of eligibility on the writers’ ballot.

In his 10th and final year on the ballot, former Astros closer Billy Wagner earned is place in Cooperstown, N.Y. in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, the Baseball Writers Association delivered quite an eclectic trifecta to Cooperstown on Tuesday. The first Japanese player ever elected to the Hall of Fame,

Wagner was elected in his 10th and final year on the ballot with 82.5% of the vote. Chase Utley climbed to 39.8% in his second year.

Suzuki's close call means New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only unanimous electee. Rivera received all 425 votes in 2019. Another longtime Yankees icon, shortstop Derek Jeter, came within one vote of unanimous election in 2020. Suzuki, Rivera and Jeter were teammates with New York from 2012-13.

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 became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball's Hall of Fame, voted in Tuesday along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Newly-elected Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki took a playful shot at the lone baseball writer who didn't vote for him."I was able to receive many votes from the writers, and (I'm) grateful for them," Suzuki said at his Hall of Fame news conference,

MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Mariano Rivera and his wife Clara Rivera have denied accusations that they covered up a child sex abuse scandal in order to protect their church.

At a Hall of Fame news conference, Ichiro joined the ranks of many people around the globe in wondering why he didn’t get that one vote.