The Hall of Fame season is in full swing as the Baseball Hall of Fame vote has been tabulated and we have three new inductees who were voted in by the writers. Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer will become enshrined in the most prestigious sports hall of fame this summer, and we are thrilled that we have a large class. They will join Jim Leyland, who was inducted by the Veteran’s Committee.
The inductees:
Adrian Beltre: 95.1% on his first ballot. The Third Baseman was considered by everyone to be a first ballot lock, and today the Dominican made that projection come true. He brings to Cooperstown a resume that had 3,166 Hits, 487 Home Runs, 1,707 RBIs, five Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, five Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves. Playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle, Boston and Texas, Beltre was never an MVP but finished in the top ten five times. Amazingly, Beltre did not really look like a Hall of Fame possibility until he was past 30, as his second half eclipsed his first.
Todd Helton: 79.7% on his fifth ballot. Helton jumped from 52.0 from last year, and came a long way from the 16.5% from year one. He enjoyed the entirety of his career with the Colorado Rockies, where he smacked 369 Home Runs with 2,519 Hits and 1,405 RBIs. Finishing his career as a member of the lifetime 3/4/5 club (.316/.414/.539), went to five All-Star Games, won three Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers and owns a Batting Title. He joins Larry Walker in joining Cooperstown while donning the “CR”.
Joe Mauer: 76.1% on his first ballot. Mauer’s election gives us two first ballot inductees, but unlike Beltre, Mauer’s Cooperstown career was spent with one team, Minnesota. One of the best hitting Catchers of all-time, Mauer won the MVP in 2009 in the season he won his third Batting Title. Mauer was. Six-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger and three-time Gold Glove winner. He recorded 2,123 Hits with a lifetime .306 Batting Average. He is a minor surprise to make it as a first ballot entry.
Failing to make the Baseball Hall of Fame were:
Billy Wagner: 73.8% on his eighth ballot. Wagner fell five votes shy of the Hall, but momentum is certainly on his side, even though there are only two years left of eligibility. This is phenomenal progress for a player who was under 20% in his first four years. With 422 career Saves (6th all-time), Wagner was a seven-time All-Star with a lifetime ERA of 2.31 and WHIP of 0.998.
Gary Sheffield: 63.9% on his tenth and final ballot. It is off to the Veteran’s Committee for Sheffield, and while that worked for Fred McGriff, this might not be the case for Sheffield who was suspected of PED use. Sheffield’s numbers are overall better than McGriff, with 509 Home Runs, 1,676 RBIs, 253 Stolen Bases and a Slash Line of .292/.393/.514. Chalk “Shef” as a member of the all Non-Cooperstown team.
Andruw Jones: 61.6% on his seventh ballot. Jones has a unique resume with 434 Home Runs and 19 Gold Gloves, and when you throw in five All-Stars and a Major League Player of the Year Award, this is a player who feels like he should be in already. He only moved up 3.5% from last year, but Jones has come a long way from his first two years where he was just hanging on with over 7%.
Carlos Beltran: 57.1% on his second ballot. Had it not been for the sign-stealing scandal in his final, and World Series winning year, Beltran would have probably been a first ballot inductee. He has the stats for it with 2,625 Hits, 435 Home Runs, 1,578 RBIs and 312 Stolen Bases, and the accoladed (nine All-Stars, two Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves, but this is a message by the voting body. He moved up 10.5% from last year, and he will get in eventually.
Alex Rodriguez: 34.8% on his third ballot. Nobody had a better resume on this ballot than A-Rod. Three MVPs, 10 Silver Sluggers, 696 Home Runs, 3,115 Hits, 2,021 Runs and 2,086 RBIs dwarves what many Cooperstown inductee have, but so does one other stat: two PED suspensions. You would think that Rodriguez’s work on Fox might show that he is forgiven, but clearly, he isn’t. His total went down from 35.7 in 2023, and why should we think anything will change for him moving forward?
Manny Ramirez: 32.5% on his eighth ballot. Like Rodriguez, Ramirez should be in the Hall. Owning a lifetime Slash Line of .312/.411/.585, 555 Home Runs, 1,831 RBIs, 12 All-Stars and nine Silver Sluggers, Ramirez was the catalyst of Boston’s two World Series Championships in the 2000s. However, again like A-Rod, Man-Ram was also popped for PEDs twice. He also dropped from last year, descending .7%.
Chase Utley: 28.8 on his first ballot. A six-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger, Utley’s strength lies on his sabermetrics (64.5 bWAR) and a 28.8 debut is a lot better than what Helton got. This is not a bat start.
Omar Vizquel: 17.7% on his seventh ballot. Ob boy. Vizquel was on track for the Hall. Voters loved his defense (11 Gold Gloves), and though he was a light hitter, he stayed around so long that he accumulated 2,877 Hits. He had 37.0 percent on his first ballot, and reached 52.6 in year three. However, he dropped to 49.1, as while votes were submitted, domestic allegations emerged. As they were credible, he plummeted to 23.9 in 2022, and has trended downward with 19.5 in 2023 and his now new low of 17.7. Here is another number. 0.0. Those are his Hall of Fame chances.
Jimmy Rollins: 14.8% on his third ballot. Inching up from 12.9 %, Rollins is a former MVP and World Series winner with Philadelphia and had 2,455 Hits with 231 Home Runs. The Shortstop also went to three All-Star Games and won four Gold Gloves.
Bobby Abreu: 14.8% on his fifth ballot. Abreu reminds surprisingly low as his 60.2 bWAR puts him in line with others in the Hall. Throw in 2,460 Hits, 288 HR, and a lifetime OBP of .395, he has the credentials, but he was only an All-Star twice and never sought attention. Abreu fell 0.6% from last year.
Andy Pettitte: 13.5% on his sixth ballot. Pettitte had a career record of 256 and 153 with 2,448 Strikeouts, three All-Stars and five World Series rings. The latter credential, and his performance in them should put him much higher, but Pettitte is an admitted PED user. That is probably enough for a lot of voters to pass on him.
Mark Buehrle: 8.3% on his fourth ballot. The five-time All-Star and World Series Champion with the Chicago White Sox had 214 Wins but only had one year where he received Cy Young votes. The Pitcher dropped from 10.8%, and is treading water at this point.
Francisco Rodriguez: 7.8% on his second ballot. Rodriguez has 437 Saves, five All-Stars and is best known for exploding out of the gate leading the Angels to their first World Series Championship. He had a disappointing drop from 10.8 on year two.
Torii Hunter: 7.3% on his fourth ballot. Hunter hangs on for life, but has never broke double-digits, and is down from year one’s number of 9.5%. He was a five-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner and two-time Silver Slugger with a 50.7 bWAR, 353 Home Runs and 1,391 RBIs.
David Wright: 6.2% on his 1st ballot. Wright loves to fight another day, but it won’t get easier going forward. The career Met went to seven All-Star Games and won two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers, but faces a tall order to enter the Hall. We do think he should be honored by New York as soon as possible.
Falling off of the ballot:
Jose Bautista: 1.6% on his first, only and last ballot. Bautista entered the Blue Jays Ring of Excellence last year, but this Hall will elude the former slugger. He blasted 344 Home Runs, won three Silver Sluggers and went to five All-Star Games.
Victor Martinez: 1.6% on his first, only and last ballot. Martinez exits on his first try after a five All-Stars, two Silver Sluggers and 295 Home Runs.
Bartolo Colon: 1.3% on his first, only and last ballot. The big man had a disappointing showing considering he won 247 Games and a Cy Young, but as popular as he was, he was suspended for PEDs. That still seems weird, doesn’t it?
Matt Holliday: 1.0% on his first, only and last ballot. The Outfielder won a World Series with St. Louis in 2011, and was a seven-time All-Star. He also won a Batting Title, NLCS MVP and four Silver Sluggers.
Adrian Gonzalez: 0.8% on his first, only and last ballot. Gonzalez had a good career with five All-Stars, four Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers and 317 Home Runs.
Brandon Phillips: 0.3% on his first, only and last ballot. Phillips received a single vote after a nice career that saw him belt 211 Home Runs with 2,029 Hits.
Jose Reyes: 0.0% on his first, only and last ballot. Reyes had a good career, but it had its share of controversies that likely cost him from receiving a vote. When we get around to the dream team of players who were shutout does Reyes belong on it? 2,138 Hits, a Batting Title and 517 SB tells us he might.
James Shields: 0.0% on his first, only and last ballot. While he received no votes, he belonged on the ballot with a respectable 145 Wins and 2,234 Strikeouts.
We will now begin work on revising the Notinhallofame.com Baseball List of those to consider for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Look for that later next month.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Comments powered by CComment