A hundred and ninety miles north of New York City sits the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., just a few steps from Otsego Lake and The Otesaga Resort Hotel.
The Hall of Fame marked its 86th birthday on June 12. It first opened in 1939, after art collector and philanthropist Stephen Carlton Clark helped establish Cooperstown as the symbolic home of baseball. The first class had been elected three years earlier in 1936 and included Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, and Ty Cobb.
When the museum opened, it also formally inducted a second wave of contributors to the game’s history, including Cap Anson, Eddie Collins, Charles Comiskey, Candy Cummings, Buck Ewing, Lou Gehrig, Willie Keeler, Charles Radbourn, George Sisler, and Albert Spalding.
The Hall of Fame turns 86 today, and our only birthday wish is that you’ll come visit us in Cooperstown soon! pic.twitter.com/KhhHdHqwIv
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) June 12, 2025
With a population of 1,791 residents that live in the village of Cooperstown, fans from all over the country and world come each year during Hall of Fame Weekend in late July to witness historic artifacts and attend the great events held for the new inductees.
The landscape of baseball in Japan has played a big part in the sport’s international success, and a new Yakyu exhibit will open its doors at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown this July to honor that shared legacy.
Former Japanese major leaguer Ichiro Suzuki will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and in a historic moment for the sport, he will also be inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame during the same calendar year—becoming the first player to earn both honors in the same year.
Roberto Clemente was the first international-born player inducted into Cooperstown, and now, with the game expanding deeper into the Eastern Hemisphere, Ichiro stands as a pioneer and trailblazer for future generations of players from Asia to be honored in the Hall of Fame.
2025 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend and Class Overview
Ichiro Suzuki will be inducted alongside Billy Wagner, CC Sabathia, Dave Parker, and Dick Allen as part of the Class of 2025. Suzuki received 393 votes (99.7 percent), falling one writer short of unanimous selection. Sabathia received 342 votes (86.8 percent), and Wagner collected 325 votes in his final year on the ballot.
