For Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, this was their coolest moment in baseball time — the day their roads converged on a wondrous Sunday afternoon in Cooperstown. This was the day they were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with two sadly absent giants from another era, the late Dave Parker and Dick Allen.
CC Sabathia debuted in the major leagues as a 20-year-old phenom and quickly evolved into an All-Star and Cy Young Award winner before becoming the ace of a World Series winner.
CC Sabathia remembers being awed by his first visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., saying he still gets goosebumps when he thinks about those hours wandering through the plaque gallery several years ago.
Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese-born player elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous selection, and he'll be joined in the Class of 2025 by starting pitcher CC Sabathia and closer Billy Wagner.
It should have been a rollicking buddy comedy, or maybe a sepia-toned documentary: Two ballplayers — a big guy and a little guy — driving together along winding country roads to Cooperstown, N.Y.
