On Tuesday night, baseball legends Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner earned election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Ichiro and Sabathia earned election on their first ballots while Wagner earned election on his 10th and final opportunity.
While those three are certainly deserving of a spot in Cooperstown, Chicago White Sox fans are disappointed to see that former ace Mark Buehrle did not earn his spot, though he did receive enough support to stay on the ballot for another year.
Buehrle got 11.4 percent of the vote, where five percent is needed to stay on the ballot.
The entire Hall of Fame vote (394 ballots cast): pic.twitter.com/mj6xAyIY2Z
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 21, 2025
The 45-year-old Buehrle spent 16 years in the big leagues, including 12 with the White Sox, one with the Miami Marlins and three with the Toronto Blue Jays. He went 214-160 overall, tossing a perfect game in his career and pitching to a 3.81 ERA.
He led the American League in innings pitched in two different seasons and was a four-time All-Star with the Sox. He helped Chicago capture the 2005 World Series championship and won double-digit games in 11 different seasons with the Sox. He won three Gold Glove Awards in Chicago and also earned Cy Young votes in 2005.
He earned a complete game victory, allowing just one run, in the 2005 ALCS. He also appeared in two games in the World Series. He was 2-1 lifetime in the postseason.
He was also part of the 2015 Blue Jays team that went to the ALCS, going 40-28 over three seasons. Remarkably durable, he made 33, 32 and 32 starts in his three years North of the Border. He also made the All-Star Game in 2014 and won double-digit games in each year. He retired after the 2015 season, making Toronto his last stop.