Other bits of intrigue ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. announcement: Will CC Sabathia be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and is this the year Billy Wagner gets in?

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.

In Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, the Baseball Writers Association delivered quite an eclectic trifecta to Cooperstown on Tuesday. The first Japanese player ever elected to the Hall of Fame,

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

Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Sabathia was on 342 ballots and Wagner on 325, which was 29 more than the 296 needed for the required 75%.

The BBWAA recognized CC Sabathia’s prolonged excellence by voting the former Yankees left-hander into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

After falling five votes short of Baseball Hall of Fame last year, Billy Wagner is hopeful on his final year on ballot.

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.

Billy Wagner is here to compete with eight relievers including Goose Gossage, Mariano Rivera, Hoyt Wilhelm, Trevor Hoffman, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter, and Lee Smith.

The left-handed flamethrower is by some measures the hardest pitcher to make contact off of in MLB history. In his final year of BBWAA eligibility, his election may come down to the wire.

In Billy Wagner’s case, the answer is a definite ... Hall members Hoffman (601) and Mariano Rivera (652) are far and away the all-time leaders, with Wagner considerably further behind in eighth ...