CC Sabathia Hall of Fame Induction (2025)

CC Sabathia got 342 of a possible 394 votes on the BBWAA's 2025 Hall of Fame ballot -- 86.8%, comfortably clear of the 75% cutoff -- and went in on the first try. On January 21, 2025, the New York Yankees found out one of their own was headed to Cooperstown. On July 27, 2025, it actually happened: Sabathia stood on the stage at the Clark Sports Center, put on a plaque with the interlocking NY on it, and became a Hall of Famer.

The Vote

First-ballot induction isn't a given for anybody, even a guy with 251 wins, 3,093 strikeouts, and a Cy Young on his resume. Sabathia cleared the bar easily, but he wasn't the headline that day -- Ichiro Suzuki got 393 of 394 votes (99.7%), one shy of unanimous and the first Japanese-born player ever elected. Billy Wagner got in on his tenth and final try, 325 votes, 82.5% (closers always wait -- that's just how the voting works). Somewhere, some anonymous voter left Ichiro off the ballot, and Ichiro has never let it go -- he used his own induction speech to needle the guy and announce that the dinner invitation had "expired." (Fair. I'd have done the same thing.)

Sabathia joined a five-man class. Dick Allen and Dave Parker got in separately, through the Classic Baseball Era Committee back in December 2024 -- 13 and 14 votes out of 16, both clearing the 75% threshold. Neither man got to give his own speech in Cooperstown. Allen died in 2020; his widow, Willa, spoke for him. Parker died June 28, 2025, less than a month before the ceremony, after a long fight with Parkinson's. His son, David Parker II, stood up there instead and told the crowd his dad used to correct him about the word "fans" -- "they ain't fans, son. They're friends." (The kind of line you wish your old man had said to you.) Sabathia got to walk in alive, healthy, and surrounded by his family. That's not nothing.

Cleveland Made Him, the Bronx Claimed Him

Here's the detail that actually says something about his 11 years here: Sabathia was the only player in the entire 2025 class who didn't go in wearing the cap of the team that drafted him. Cleveland picked him 20th overall in 1998, developed him, and got a Cy Young out of him in 2007. He wore the Yankees cap on his plaque anyway.

That wasn't a snub (if anything, it was the loudest non-verbal statement he made all year). Sabathia signed the biggest contract ever given a pitcher in December 2008, went 19-8 in year one, and helped deliver the 2009 World Series before he'd even finished unpacking. Eleven seasons, 143-88, a knee that needed a brace the size of a toolbox by the end, and a clubhouse that treated him like the guy who set the tone. Cleveland built him. New York is where he decided he lived.

His speech backed that up in its own way -- it wasn't really about the Bronx or Cleveland at all. It ran shorter than most of his classmates' and it was almost entirely about the women who raised him. "It's been a long road from Vallejo, California, and I wouldn't have made it all this way without the women redirecting me when I got lost," he said, thanking his mother Margie and his wife Amber before he ever got to the stats. He did leave room for one regret: "My biggest regret in baseball is not winning a championship for the fans in Cleveland."

It's been a long road from Vallejo, California, and I wouldn't have made it all this way without the women redirecting me when I got lost.

What Came Next

The Cooperstown weekend wasn't the last time the Yankees honored him in 2025. On September 26, they retired his No. 52 and hung a plaque in Monument Park before a game against Baltimore -- the 24th number retired in franchise history, and the first since Paul O'Neill's No. 21 went up in 2022. Sabathia has said the number retirement actually hit him harder than Cooperstown did, which tracks for a guy whose induction speech was more about his mom than his fastball.

The 3,000th strikeout back in 2019 always looked like the closing argument. Turns out the verdict just took until 2025 to get read out loud.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was CC Sabathia inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

The BBWAA elected Sabathia on January 21, 2025, with 342 votes (86.8%) in his first year of eligibility. The Hall of Fame formally inducted him on July 27, 2025, at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, New York.

What percentage of the vote did CC Sabathia get for the Hall of Fame?

Sabathia received 342 of 394 possible votes, or 86.8%, well above the 75% threshold needed for election. It was more than enough for first-ballot induction.

Who else was in CC Sabathia's Hall of Fame induction class?

The BBWAA inducted Sabathia alongside Ichiro Suzuki (99.7% of the vote) and Billy Wagner (82.5%, his final year on the ballot). The Classic Baseball Era Committee separately elected Dick Allen and Dave Parker back in December 2024, and all five entered the Hall together as one class.

Did CC Sabathia go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee or as Cleveland?

Sabathia's plaque bears a Yankees cap, making him the only member of the 2025 class not wearing the cap of the team that originally drafted and developed him. Cleveland drafted him 20th overall in 1998 and he won his Cy Young there in 2007, but he spent his final 11 seasons -- and won his only championship -- in the Bronx.

Did the Yankees also retire CC Sabathia's number?

Yes. On September 26, 2025, the Yankees retired his No. 52 and unveiled his Monument Park plaque before a game against Baltimore, making him the 24th player or manager in franchise history to receive the honor.