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.

Ichiro Suzuki could join Mariano Rivera as the only unanimous picks for baseball’s Hall of Fame and CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner and Carlos Beltrán also could be elected when results of the writers’ voting are announced.

CC Sabathia adds another C to his name now, for Cooperstown, now that he becomes the latest great Yankee to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Former Milwaukee Brewers left-handed pitcher CC Sabathia was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame Monday, receiving 86.8% of the vote in his first year on the ballot. Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner were also voted in.

Lefty pitchers Billy Wagner and CC Sabathia both earned their spots in the Baseball Hall of Fame, joining near-unanimous selection Ichiro

Former Milwaukee Brewers left-handed pitcher CC Sabathia was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today, receiving 86.8% of the vote in his first year on the ballot.

CC Sabathia understands his place in history. The former Yankees ace was pretty much a lock to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the last great, dominant workhorse starters in the game. When he got elected the first time he appeared on the ballot, however, Sabathia could not hide his feelings about how special that was.

That was one of the best debut seasons ever. Ichiro was an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove award in right field. He not only coasted to the Rookie of the Year award but narrowly surpassed Jason Giambi to win the MVP. He joined Fred Lynn as the only rookies to be named the Most Valuable Player.