CC Sabathia was an ace. You know who screamed this fact loudest? Not me. The sport did. The sport told us what the final numbers didn’t.

Chase Utley and Ian Kinsler had virtually identical careers from a stats and awards perspective, but their Hall of Fame cases vary widely.

There was no doubt about Ichiro and little doubt about CC Sabathia, but one-time Phillies closer Billy Wagner still had to sweat it out in his 10th and final year on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot,

The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.

Tuesday is one of the holy days on the baseball calendar, the announcement of players voted into the Hall of Fame. The honor is extreme and well-earned, with just over 1% of all big leaguers making it to Cooperstown for what they did as players: 275 out of 23,370.

Ichiro Suzuki missed unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame by one vote Tuesday night when he headlined a three-player class selected by the 394 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Ichiro Suzuki 393 (99.7), CC Sabathia 342, (86.8), Billy Wagner 325 (82.5), Carlos Beltran 277, (70.3) , Andruw Jones 261 (66.2), Chase Utley 157 (39.8), Alex Rodríguez 146 (37.1) , Manny Ramirez ...

PLAYER VOTES PCT. (%) Ichiro Suzuki 393 99.7 CC Sabathia 342 86.8 Billy Wagner 325 82.5 Carlos Beltrán 277 70.3 Andruw Jones 261 66.2 Chase Utley 157 39.8 Álex Rodríguez 146 37.1 Manny Ramírez ...

There was no doubt about Ichiro and little doubt about CC Sabathia, but one-time Phillies ... but are trending toward election. So is Chase Utley, one of the biggest risers in the field.

Wagner was elected in his 10th and final year on the ballot with 82.5% of the vote. Chase Utley climbed to 39.8% in his second year.

Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. It's a remarkable achievement to survive the gauntlet of baseball writers to get elected to Cooperstown: After all, the Baseball Hall of Fame remains the toughest to gain entry to, especially via the BBWAA path of election.

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.