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 Roberto Clemente Award. Originally, this was called the Commissioners Award, the accolade is given annually to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to the team. It was renamed the Roberto Clemente Award following the death of Clemente who died in a plane crash while on the way to Nicaragua to deliver supplies to victims of the Nicaragua Earthquake.
So, how many Roberto Clemente 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.
The following are the past players who have won the Roberto Clemente Award in the MLB who are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame and have been enshrined.
Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants (1971)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979.
Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles (1972)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers (1973)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.
Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates (1974)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988.
Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals (1975)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
Rod Carew, Minnesota Twins (1977)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.
Phil Niekro, Atlanta Braves (1980)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.
Gary Carter, New York Mets (1989)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.
Cal Ripken Jr., Baltimore Orioles (1992)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.
Barry Larkin, Cincinnati Reds (1993)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Dave Winfield, Minnesota Twins (1994)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001.
Ozzie Smith, St. Louis Cardinals (1995)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.
Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins (1996)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001.
Tony Gwynn, San Diego Padres (1999)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.
Jim Thome, Cleveland Indians (2002)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.
Edgar Martinez, Seattle Mariners (2004)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves (2005)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
Craig Biggio, Houston Astros (2007)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
The following are the players who have won the Roberto Clemente Award in MLB who are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame and have not been selected:
Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds (1976)
Rose is banned from the Hall of Fame. Ranked #1A on Notinhalloffame.com.
Greg Luzinski, Philadelphia Phillies (1978)
Luzinski was on the ballot for one year in 1990 and received 0.2% of the vote. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Andre Thornton, Cleveland Indians (1979)
Thornton was on the ballot for one year in 1993 and received 0.5% of the vote. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers (1981)
Garvey was on the ballot for fifteen years in and finished as high as 42.6% in 1995. Ranked #25 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Ken Singleton, Baltimore Orioles (1982)
Singleton was on the ballot for one year in 1990 but did not receive any votes. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Cecil Cooper, Milwaukee Brewers (1983)
Cooper was on the ballot for one year in 1993 and received 0.5% of the vote. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Ron Guidry, New York Yankees (1984)
Guidrey was on the ballot for nine years in and finished as high as 8.8% in 2000. Ranked #54 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Don Baylor, New York Yankees (1985)
Baylor was on the ballot for two years in 1993 and received 2.6% of the vote in both years. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Garry Maddox, Philadelphia Phillies (1986)
Maddox was on the ballot for one year in 1990 but did not receive any votes. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Rick Sutcliffe, Chicago Cubs (1987)
Sutcliffe was on the ballot for one year in 2000 and received 1.7% of the vote. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves (1988)
Murphy was on the ballot for fifteen years in and finished as high as 23.2% in 2000. Ranked #30 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Dave Stewart, Oakland Athletics (1990)
Stewart was on the ballot for two years and finished as high as 7.4% in 2001. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Harold Reynolds, Seattle Mariners (1991)
Although Reynolds was eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2000 he was not on the ballot. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Eric Davis, Cincinnati Reds (1997)
Davis was on the ballot for one year in 2007 and received 0.6% of the ballot. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs (1998)
Sosa has been on the ballot for seven years and finished as high as 12.5% in 2013. Ranked #29 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Al Leiter, New York Mets (2000)
Leiter was on the ballot for one year in 2011 and received 0.7% of the vote. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Curt Schilling, Arizona Diamondbacks (2001)
Schilling has been on the ballot for seven years and finished as high as 60.9% in 2019. Ranked #5 on Notinhalloffame.com.
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.
Carlos Delgado, New York Mets (2006)
Delgado was on the ballot for one year and finished with 3.8% in 2015. Ranked #79 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Tim Wakefield, Boston Red Sox (2010)
Wakefield was on the ballot for one year in 2017 and received 0.2% of the vote. 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/NL/AL Cy Young Award |
44.4% |
55.4% |
|
MLB Roberto Clemente Award |
47.4% |
47.4% |
|
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 Roberto Clemente 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:
Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (2009)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.
David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox (2011)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.
Carlos Beltran, New York Mets (2013)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023.
Jimmy Howard, Philadelphia Phillies (2014) (Co-Winner)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.
Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox (2014) (Co-Winner)
Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.
The following are the players who have won the Roberto Clemente Award who are still active.
Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (2008)
39 Years Old, Playing for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (2012)
31 Years Old, Playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates (2015)
32 Years Old, Playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Curtis Granderson, New York Mets (2016)
38 Years Old, Playing for the Miami Marlins.
Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs (2017)
29 Years Old, Playing for the Chicago Cubs.
Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals (2018)
36 Years Old, Playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Roberto Clemente 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 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.
As always, we thank you for that support and look for that soon!
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