Two days after receiving the telephone call that brought them to Cooperstown, right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, starting pitcher CC Sabathia and closer Billy Wagner found themselves in an oak-walled Plaque Gallery surrounded by 348 bronze images.
The trio of stars, contemporaries who blossomed in the first decade of the 20th century, combined for 23 All-Star Game selections, 28 postseason series and a treasure trove of assorted hardware. They were at the game’s most hallowed ground, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, having been elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Jan. 21. And on Jan. 23, the Hall of Fame had their recent BBWAA electees gather for an in-person inductee media conference in the Grandstand Theater as well as an inductee orientation tour.
Inside the Museum’s Grandstand Theater, Jack O’Connell, the secretary-treasurer of the BBWAA, shared the press conference dais with the three newest electees, Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch and Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark.