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

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.