We here at Notinhalloffame.com thought it would be fun to take a look at the major awards in North American team sports and see how it translates into Hall of Fame potential.
Needless to say, different awards in different sports yield hall of fame potential. In basketball, the team sport with the least number of players on a roster, the dividend for greatness much higher. In baseball, it is not as much as a great individual season does not have the same impact.
For our next selection we look at the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. Created by the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, it is designed to be given annually to the baseball player who is recognized for his work in his community and through his philanthropic work. Think of this as the Baseball equivalent to the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
So, how many Lou Gehrig Memorial Award winners have been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Let’s find out!
*Please note that as statistics are not as relevant for this award so as opposed to how we normally list players, we will simply just list the winners as opposed to go into that year’s accomplishments. This is the same position that we took with the Roberto Clemente Award.
The following are the past players who have won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in the MLB who are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame and have been enshrined.
Pee Wee Reese, Brooklyn Dodgers (1956)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984.
Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals (1957)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.
Warren Spahn, Milwaukee Braves (1961)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.
Robin Roberts, Baltimore Orioles (1962)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976.
Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles (1966)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs (1967)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977.
Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers (1968)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.
Hank Aaron, Atlanta Braves (1970)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.
Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins (1971)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984.
Ron Santo, Chicago Cubs (1973)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Willie Stargell, Chicago Cubs (1974)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988.
Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds (1975)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989.
Don Sutton, Los Angeles Dodgers (1976)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998.
Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals (1977)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
Phil Niekro, Atlanta Braves (1979)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.
Tony Perez, Boston Red Sox (1980)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.
Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies (1983)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995.
George Brett, Kansas City Royals (1986)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.
Ozzie Smith, St. Louis Cardinals (1989)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.
Cal Ripken Jr., Baltimore Orioles (1992)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.
Barry Larkin, Cincinnati Reds (1994)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Paul Molitor, Minnesota Twins (1997)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
Tony Gwynn, San Diego Padres (1998)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Jim Thome, Philadelphia Phillies (2004)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.
John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves (2005)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres (2006)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.
The following are the players who have won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in MLB who are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame and have not been selected:
Al Dark, New York Giants (1955)
Dark was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 18.5% in 1979. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Gil McDougald, New York Yankees (1958)
McDougald was on the ballot for nine years and finished as high as 1.7% in 1966. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Gil Hodges, Los Angeles Dodgers (1959)
Hodges was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 63.4% in 1983. Ranked #11 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Dick Groat, Pittsburgh Pirates (1960)
Groat was on the ballot for nine years and finished as high as 1.8% in 1973. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Bobby Richardson, New York Yankees (1963)
Richardson was on the ballot for three years and finished as high as 2.0% in 1972. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Ken Boyer, St. Louis Cardinals (1964)
Boyer was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 25.5% in 1983. Ranked #49 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Vern Law, Pittsburgh Pirates (1965)
Law was on the ballot for seven years and finished as high as 2.4% in 1973. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds (1969)
Rose has been banned from the Baseball for gambling and the Baseball Hall of Fame has not allowed him on the ballot. Ranked #1A on Notinhalloffame.com
Wes Parker, Los Angeles Dodgers (1972)
Parker did not play the mandatory ten seasons to qualify for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Don Kessinger, Chicago White Sox (1978)
Kessinger was on the ballot for one year and received 0.5% of the vote. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Tommy John, New York Yankees (1981)
John was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 31.7% in 2009. Ranked #12 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Ron Cey, Los Angeles Dodgers (1982)
Cey was on the ballot for one years and finished with 1.9% in 1993. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Steve Garvey, San Diego Padres (1984)
Garvey was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 42.6% in 1995. Ranked #12 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves (1985)
Murphy was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 23.2% in 2000. Ranked #12 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Rick Sutcliffe, Chicago Cubs (1987)
Sutcliffe was on the ballot for one year and finished with 1.8% in 2000. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Buddy Bell, Texas Rangers (1988)
Bell was on the ballot for one year and finished with 1.7% in 1995. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Glenn Davis, Houston Astros (1990)
While Davis played the minimum 10 years, he was not on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Kent Hrbek, Minnesota Twins (1990)
Hrbek was on the ballot for one year and finished with 1.0% in 2000. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Don Mattingly, New York Yankees (1993)
Murphy was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 28.2% in 2001. Ranked #40 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Curt Schilling, Philadelphia Phillies (1995)
Schilling has been on the ballot for seven years and finished as high as 60.9% in 2019. Ranked #5 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Brett Butler, Los Angeles Dodgers (1996)
Butler was on the ballot for one year and finished with 0.4% in 2003. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals (1999)
McGwire has been on the ballot for ten years and finished as high as 23.7% in 2010. Ranked #16 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Todd Stottlemyre, Arizona Diamondbacks (2000)
Stottlemyre was on the ballot for one year and finished with 0.2% in 2008. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
John Franco, New York Mets (2001)
Franco was on the ballot for one year and finished with 4.6% in 2011. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Danny Graves, Cincinnati Reds (2002)
Although Graves was eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2012, he was not on the ballot.
Jamie Moyer, Seattle Mariners (2003)
Moyer was on the ballot for one year and finished with 2.4% in 2018. Ranked #105 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Mike Timlin, Boston Red Sox (2007)
Timlin was on the ballot for one year but did not receive any votes in 2007. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers (2013)
Hamilton did not play the minimum ten years to qualify for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Let’s update our tally, shall we?
|
Award in Question |
Percentage of recipients who have entered the HOF |
Percentage of recipients by year who have entered the HOF. |
|
NBA MVP |
100% |
100% |
|
NHL Norris |
90.5% |
96.4% |
|
NBA All Star Game MVP |
89.5% |
91.7% |
|
NHL Conn Smythe |
74.2% |
85.4% |
|
NHL Lady Byng |
63.8% |
76.0% |
|
NFL Super Bowl MVP |
60.6% |
64.9% |
|
NBA Defensive Player of the Year |
58.3% |
56.5% |
|
NBA Rookie of the Year |
56.5% |
56.5% |
|
NFL Pro Bowl MVP |
52.3% |
54.8% |
|
MLB Lou Gehrig Award |
51.9% |
51.9% |
|
MLB Roberto Clemente Award |
47.4% |
47.4% |
|
MLB/NL/AL Cy Young Award |
44.4% |
55.4% |
|
MLB Babe Ruth Award |
37.0% |
39.3% |
|
NHL Frank J. Selke Trophy |
33.3% |
36.7% |
|
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year |
28.6% |
28.6% |
|
MLB Edgar Martinez Award |
26.7% |
17.2% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Silver Slugger (Designated Hitter) |
25.0% |
30.8% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Silver Slugger (Shortstop) |
23.5% |
52.6% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Gold Glove |
21.7% |
36.8% |
|
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year |
20.6% |
20.6% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Silver Slugger (Catcher) |
20.0% |
22.5% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Gold Glove (Second Base) |
18.8% |
39.8% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Gold Glove (Shortstop) |
18.2% |
35.1% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Silver Slugger (Pitcher) |
18.2% |
20.1% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Silver Slugger (Second Base) |
16.7% |
32.7% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Gold Glove (Outfield) |
16.7% |
30.1% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Silver Slugger (Outfield) |
15.7% |
25.2% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Gold Glove (Third Base) |
14.3% |
14.3% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Silver Slugger (Third Base) |
13.6% |
14.3% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Silver Slugger (First Base) |
13.6% |
13.3% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Rookie of the Year |
13.3% |
13.3% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Gold Glove (Catcher) |
10.3% |
15.2% |
|
NBA Most Improved Player of the Year |
5.3% |
3.2% |
|
MLB (NL/AL) Gold Glove (First Base) |
3.8% |
3.2% |
So, who is up next?
The following are the players who have won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in the Major League Baseball who have retired but have not met the mandatory years out of the game to qualify for the Baseball Hall of Fame:
Shane Victorino, Philadelphia Phillies (2008)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (2010)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.
Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants (2012)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers (2014)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.
The following are the players who have won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award who are still active.
Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (2009)
39 Years Old, Playing for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals (2011)
34 Years Old, Playing for the Washington Nationals.
Curtis Granderson, New York Mets (2015)
38 Years Old, Playing for the Miami Marlins.
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros (2016)
29 Years Old, Playing for the Houston Astros.
Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds (2017)
35 Years Old, Playing for the Cincinnati Reds.
Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians (2018)
33 Years Old, Playing for the Cleveland Indians.
The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award winners seems to lean toward elite players and we suspect that this will be a pattern to continue.
Up next, we are going to stay within the tertiary Baseball Awards and look at the Hutch Award Winner.
As always, we thank you for that support and look for that soon!
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