Tag Archives: Hall of Fame

January 20, 2026

Island Hall

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Two Caribbean islanders reach the Hall of Fame:

Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, who were born within one day of each other in 1977, moved even closer together Tuesday as the two center fielders were elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and tabulated by Ernst & Young.

Players are elected to the Hall provided they are named on at least 75 percent of ballots cast by eligible voting members of the BBWAA. With 425 ballots, including 11 blanks, cast in the 2026 election, candidates needed to receive 319 votes to be elected.

Beltrán, who was in his fourth year on the ballot, topped the lists of 27 candidates with 358 votes, which accounted for 84.2 percent of the electorate. Jones made the grade in his ninth year on the ballot with 333 votes (78.4). Jones was born April 23, 1977 in Willemstad, Curaçao, the day before Beltrán’s arrival in Manati, Puerto Rico.
BBWAA.com

Congratulations to two great centerfielders. The voters did not hold the Astros cheating scandal against Beltran, despite it costing him a job managing the Mets. Both produced about 67 fWAR. While a good hitter, Jones’ defense contributed a lot more to that total, while Beltran’s came mostly from his bat. (Beltran fielded well in his youth, but his defense did not carry into his later career.)

The overall ballot was a bit of a blood bath, as eleven of the twenty seven candidates fell off. Cole Hamels is the only first timer to survive, and three players, Daniel Murphy, Gio Gonzalez, and Howie Kendrick received no votes. Maybe it’s bad luck to have played for the Nationals!

January 20, 2026

Hall of Fame Day

Tonight we lean the results of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame balloting. From the public ballots, it looks like Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones stand the best chance of gaining 75% of the vote. It looks to me like both benefitted from this being a weak ballot. The 211 public voters averaged 6.4 players per ballot, so no one was crowding out these greats. I’m surprised that five players received no votes so far. Usually, a some writer will vote for some player because they had a good relationship. It seems that is disappearing.

December 31, 2025

No Votes

With about one quarter of the Hall of Fame ballots made public so far, there are a number of new candidates receiving zero support. I find that unusual. Most players who make the ballot did something in their careers to impress a writer. An example here is Alex Gordon. Gordon produced an impressive peak. From 2011 to 2014 he posted an average of 5.9 rWAR a season. He hit a ton of doubles and triples in that time with a very good OBP, and was a perennial gold glove winner. I would think that some writer who covered the Royals in that time with an open slot on the ballot might vote for Gordon. Daniel Murphy, Gio Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Rick Porcello, and Nick Markakis have yet to find some love. Somehow, Shin-Soo Choo got a vote, and the disgraced Ryan Braun got four.

Note that I am fine with all of these players falling off the ballot. It seems to me as the writers become more analytical, the “fan” vote is disappearing. Going back through the tracker years, 2021 was the first vote in which at least one player received zero votes, so this is a recent phenomenon.

December 7, 2025

Kent to the Hall

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The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee elects Jeff Kent to the Hall of Fame:

Jeff Kent, the slugging infielder who totaled more home runs than any second baseman in history, earned election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday via the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee process, it was announced today on MLB Network.

Kent was one of eight candidates on the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Ballot, which was considered by a 16-member committee that held meetings today in Orlando, Fla. The ballot was comprised of player candidates whose primary contribution to the game came since 1980.

Kent was named on 14 of 16 ballots, the only candidate to reach the 75-percent threshold necessary for election.
BaseballHall.org

So this committee decided not to override the writers rejection of the suspect PED users.

Kent with a career 55.4 rWAR falls a bit short of the 60 WAR mark that tends to be the dividing line. He did slug .500 as a second baseman, and that was still rare back then.

Here are the rest of the votes:

Results of the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Ballot (12 votes needed for election): Jeff Kent (14 votes, 87.5%); Carlos Delgado (9 votes, 56.3%); Don Mattingly (6 votes, 37.5%); Dale Murphy (6 votes, 37.5%); Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela each received less than five votes.

So there was no love for Bonds and Clemens.

December 2, 2025

The Other Fame Voters

The Hall of Fame announced the make up of the cotemporary era committee. They will vote on a number of players who contributed from 1980 on, including a number of players the BBWAA declined due to the taint of performance enhancing drugs.

Hall of Fame players Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Pérez, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell and Robin Yount are among 16 members of the contemporary era committee that will consider an eight-man Hall ballot that includes Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy.
ESPN.com

The committee also consists of owners, GMs, writers, and an historian. I do wonder how these players will view Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Most of the above played in an era when drugs like amphetamines were plentiful, and even some steroid use went on. Will they see these players as properly punished by the writers and vote for them, or will they agree with the writers that juicing was beyond the pale?

November 17, 2025

Hall of Fame Ballot

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The BBWAA released the Hall of Fame ballot for the class of 2026. Twenty seven players fill the ballot, twelve of them on for the first time:

While left-hander Cole Hamels leads this class of newcomers, it’s returning outfielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones who enter this cycle with the best chance of giving an induction speech come July. Beltrán in particular could be on the cusp. During the 2025 voting cycle, he jumped from 57.1% support to 70.3% in his third time on the ballot. Players need to reach 75% of the vote to be elected, and they have 10 years of eligibility, remaining on the ballot as long as they receive at least 5% of the vote.
MLB.com

Since MLB only gives us pictures of players with their names in tiny print, you can use the Hall of Fame page to actually see who is included. It seems to me that very few of the new players will survive the cut. Hamels produced an extremely long peak, from seasonal age 23 through seasonal age 34, twelve seasons in which he average 4.4 WAR per year. His career WAR ended with 57.9 rWAR, a bit shy of the 60 WAR mark that seems to be the cutoff. He only made the All-Star team four times and never finished in the top three in Cy Young voting.

I notice Ryan Braun is on the ballot, too, and I suspect he won’t get many votes due to both his steroid use and his blatant lying about it.

The lack of new talent on the ballot should give voters plenty of room to vote for Andruw Jones.

July 27, 2025

Hall of Fame Day

The Hall of Fame welcomes five new players Sunday:

Dick Allen, Dave Parker, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner will achieve baseball immorality on Sunday when they are inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Their achievements on the field show the honor is well-deserved.
SI.com

To me the most impressive feat belongs to Suzuki, who came to the majors at seasonal age 27, the peak year for athletic performance, and still managed to amass 3089 hits. (Note that Pete Rose collected 3357 hits starting with his age 27 season.)

Also, photo of the weekend:

My guy Reggie!!! @mroctober pic.twitter.com/AoiJEuOA8o
— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) July 26, 2025

While he may have shrunk a bit with age, Reggie Jackson is not a small person. It’s a nice perspective on CC Sabathia’s size.

Congratulations to all the Hall of Famers!

May 13, 2025

Lifetime Ban is Just That

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Commissioner Rob Manfred decided that lifetime bans only last a lifetime:

Manfred ruled that MLB’s punishment of banned individuals ends upon their deaths.

“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who petitioned for Rose’s removal from the list Jan. 8. “Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.

“Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.”
ESPN.com

This does not make Hall of Fame election inevitable. The Hall may pass its own rule that gamblers are ineligible. Voters have proven they don’t like cheaters, and kept PED users out of the Hall. We’ll see how this plays out over the years, but I would not be surprised to see none of these former players enshrined in Cooperstown. Whatever happens, Pete Rose and Joe Jackson won’t know about it.

January 21, 2025

Three Make the Hall

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The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) elected Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner to the Hall of Fame. Suzuki and Sabathia were on the ballot for the first time, Wagner for the tenth and final time. Congratulations to all three!

Suzuki joins Derek Jeter as players who fell one vote short of a unanimous election. I was discussing why some players fall just a few votes short of unanimity. I suspect at some point, the player really made the writer angry. The writer then thinks, “This player will get elected with or without my vote, so I’m going to prevent a perfect election.” Mariano Rivera was such a good person, I can believe he never made a writer angry.

Wagner will be the controversial choice, as there are strong feelings about relievers pitching enough to make the hall. On the broadcast this evening, there was talk about his efforts in high leverage situations. In 881 PA with men in scoring position, Wagner struck out 301 batters, 34.2%. That’s a bit better than his 33.2% in against the 3600 batters he faced overall. He did pitch better with men on base, but not a lot better.

Carlos Beltran pulled 70% of the vote, as it looks like a good fraction of the voters are not happy with the cheating scandal. He is up significantly from last year. Andruw Jones rose as well, from 62% to 66%. I suspect we’ll see a campaign for Jones similar to the one for Bert Blyleven that will eventually put the outfielder over the top.

January 5, 2025

Laurila and the Hall

Naitonal treasure David Laurila discusses his Hall of Fame ballot. Here is the picture:

My HoF ballot. Explanation coming in tomorrow’s Notes column. pic.twitter.com/HFu8NGSbx8
— David Laurila (@DavidLaurilaQA) January 5, 2025

One of the nice things about the Hall of Fame ballot is that you can vote for a favorite even though there is little chance of that person reaching the hall. I would probably give a vote to Dustin Pedroia, too, as one of the great short players.

As of this writing, the Hall of Fame tracker makes it look like the voters will select Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia for enshrinement. Ichiro, so far, recevied all reportd votes.

Billy Wagner, who just missed in 2024, is also doing well. The big hall voters, however, tend to go public early, so the percentages go down as all the ballots are counted, and Wagner may just miss again. I know people with very strong feelings against closers in the hall, due to their lack of innings. My own feeling is that closer is now a legitimate role in the game. I have no problem with a closer going into the Hall, but it has to be a much higher bar than a more used player. The same applies to designated hitters. Maybe one a generation should go into the Hall.

November 18, 2024

Hall Voting

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Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia find themselves on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. Ichiro is the interesting case because he came to MLB in the middle of his peak after staring in Japan. That fact that he was able to maintain his peak well into his 30s puts him in a position to make the Hall of Fame. He is also the player who put Japanese hitters on the map. I think his unique contributions to the game will put him in on the first ballot.

July 21, 2024

Hall of Fame Day

Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, Joe Mauer, and manager Jim Leyland face the crowd this afternoon in Cooperstown during their Hall of Fame inductions. It’s a great group. Beltre stood out in an era of great third baseman. He hit well, he fielded great, and continued playing at a high level into his late 30s. Helton stood as one of the few Rockies who was a great hitter away from Coors. While Coors helped him a great deal, he hit .287/.386/.469 on the road. Mauer combined great hitting with great defense behind the plate, and I think voters did a good job here of recognizing that Hall of Fame standards need to be a little different for catchers given the injuries they accumulate.

I really hope Leyland gives his speech with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Bun E. Calos would:

January 23, 2024

Beltre Day

The Hall of Fame announces the Baseball Writers selections for the Hall of Fame Tuesday night at 6 PM. The Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker shows third baseman Adrian Beltre as a shoe in, although he won’t be unanimous. He is certainly in the top five of third basemen all time, although an inconsistent offensive career probably kept him out of the top slot.

ESPN talks to four baseball men close to Beltre, each providing a view of his greatness. In the section on Elvis Andrus, comes the bit about Beltre’s joy for the game:

Beltré’s Hall of Fame résumé was built on his prowess, but his essence was marked by the spontaneity and hilarity of his antics — by the unique ways in which he emanated joy. Like when he dodged a liquid bath with a push broom. Or ran toward the pitcher’s mound during a rundown. Or stopped his stride like a Looney Tunes character. Or pushed José Altuve off third base. Or mockingly danced at Andrelton Simmons. Or screamed at Hernández on his way to first. Or dragged the on-deck circle before an at-bat, triggering one of the most ridiculous ejections in recent memory.

Beltré’s ability to exude levity and tenacity simultaneously made him unlike any others before him. It was his gift to the sport — and Andrus, his shortstop partner throughout his eight-year stint with the Texas Rangers, often triggered it with those unrelenting attempts to rub the top of his head.
ESPN.com

He was also the rare player who could actually play through pain.

Beltre managed to stand out in a golden era of third baseman. Brooks Robinson had some competition from Graig Nettles in the second half of Robinson’s career. George Brett and Mike Schmidt lit up the second half of the 1970s and the 1980s. Beltre’s career started in 1998 and ended in 2018. Adding two seasons around that gives us a good view of his contemporaries. The list is sorted by at bats as a third baseman. The top six were incredible, and the top nine were certainly excellent.

Beltre brought offensive skills, defensive skills, and leadership skills to the game, not going into a decline until his late 30s. He checks all the boxes for the Hall, and it’s good to see that he will go in with a very high vote percentage on the first ballot.

January 21, 2024

More Closers

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David Laurila makes his case for more closers in the Hall of Fame:

Personally, I don’t think there are enough closers in the Hall of Fame. It’s not as though the role isn’t important, and it certainly isn’t recent. The first 15-save season came exactly 100 years ago, with Firpo Marberry doing the honors with the Washington Senators (the right-hander added two more saves in that year’s World Series). Marberry subsequently logged the first 20-save season in 1926, and by career’s end he’d led the American League in saves and appearances six times each. Marberry isn’t in the Hall of Fame, but when you factor in his historical significance — ditto his higher JAWS score than all of Rollie Fingers, Lee Smith, and Bruce Sutter — he arguably should be.
FanGraphs.com

Of course, managers used Marberry differently than modern closers. Twenty six of his ninety nine saves came when he entered the game with at least one out already recorded in the inning. Marberry operated as a fireman, a term in use for pitchers who entered the game in a dire situation. You never hear that term used anymore, as closer took over. In comparison, only seventeen of Billy Wagner’s 422 saves came with outs already recorded in an inning. Closers no longer put out fires, they prevent fires from happening.

My feeling is that for a closer to make the Hall of Fame, they need to be the best of their generation. I don’t think Wagner makes the cut in that regard.

January 20, 2024

Anticipating a Mauer Honor

Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune reviews Joe Mauer‘s baseball career from T-Ball to his last game at catcher:

In a family filled with athletes, Joe always stood out. There is a picture of Mauer, his diaper partially showing, on a trip to the batting cage with his two older brothers. Mauer’s mother, Teresa, said he was booted from a tee-ball league in St. Paul at 4 years old because he hit the ball too hard.
StarTribune.com

Mauer is currently at 84.2% at the Hall of Fame Tracker. The public ballots tend to be more generous than the private ballots, so Mauer may just get in. I suspect the final tally will be around 78%.

December 1, 2023

Johnson for the Hall

Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt makes the case for Davey Johnson‘s election to the Hall of Fame:

Now almost 81, Davey sits in a rocker on his porch, a unique baseball man who experienced more than maybe any ever. One thing he was not was a “yes” man. He had his differences with ownership in New York, Cincinnati and Baltimore, but nothing stopped him from winning. He was Manager of the Year in both leagues. He won in the majors, the minors, the Olympics, the WBC, collegiate leagues. Give him a team and it won.

He finished 301 games over .500 as a manager and is 10th all-time in winning percentage among those winning at least 1,000 games. The nine managers above him on that list are all in the Hall.
Chron.com

It strikes me that a number of managers in the Hall of Fame for their field direction tended to have success with one team for a long time. Teams fired Johnson, and after the Mets, his tenures tended to be brief.

I agree with Schmidt, however. In my years watching the game, Johnson ranks with the best strategists I’ve seen. I hope the committee recognizes that trait.

November 20, 2023

Ballot Boost

The Hall of Fame ballot gets an influx of excellent players for voters to consider:

Adrián Beltré, Joe Mauer, Chase Utley, David Wright, José Bautista and Matt Holliday are among 12 new candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot released Monday.
Chron.com

Beltre, one of the greatest third basemen ever, should be an easy first ballot selection. Utley will get plenty of support. To me, Mauer is the tough choice. With 51 fWAR, he is a bit low for the Hall of Fame. Catchers, unfortunately, tend to play fewer seasons due to the wear and tear of the position. He ranks behind Buster Posey, so is similar, but also led the Giants to three World Championships. I suspect this class will have a number of players go the ten-year distance without getting in.

July 23, 2023

McGriff and Rolen

Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen entered the baseball Hall of Fame today. Both spoke of their work ethic. Here’s McGriff:

His words built on a theme of continuing to work in pursuit of your dreams, an ethic McGriff embodied from the time he was cut from his 10th grade team.

“I was on a mission to improve as a hitter,” McGriff said. “It was time to work. That meant becoming a student of the game, reading books, watching videos about hitting. Charlie Lau‘s ‘The Art of Hitting .300’ became my go-to book. It was like my bible.”
ESPN.com

Rolen:

Most of Rolen’s speech went on to celebrate the work ethic and simple values of his small-town background, manifested in the support and guidance from his parents, including his father urging him to focus on what he can do, not what he can’t, with the words “do that, then.”

“‘Do that, then’ carried me into the minor leagues and gave me a simple mindset that I would never allow myself to be unprepared or outworked,” Rolen said. “‘Do that, then’ put me on this stage today.”

Congratulations to both men on a well deserved honor.

July 23, 2023

Rolen’s Defense

As Scott Rolen enters the Hall of Fame today, teammates reflect on this defense. Here is Todd Zeile, a third baseman himself:

Todd Zeile was Scott Rolen’s first major league first baseman and an experienced third baseman in his own right. The 1996 Phillies were the third of Zeile’s 11 MLB teams. He had a lot of teammates, but few compared to Rolen defensively.

Todd Zeile (Phillies 1B, 1996): “There’s a timing mechanism that good third basemen have [so] that they know how much time they have to deliver the ball to get the runner by a step. Scott, for as athletic as he was at third base, had that built-in clock. I had really struggled with that and made a lot of unforced errors. He would dive and sprawl and roll and come up and throw it from weird angles but he always seemed to have that clock that would give him just enough time to get his balance, make accurate throws, and not make unforced errors.”
SportsInfoSolutions.com

There is also a great bit from Eduardo Perez about how a first baseman could not take his eye off a ball hit to third, because Rolen would throw the ball to the bag if you were there or not.

January 24, 2023

No Cain, Some Gain

There were quite a few players on the ballot who received zero votes. One of those was Matt Cain, former pitcher for the Giants. Cain did not make it through his prime years, having his last good season at seasonal age 27. The years leading up to that were good indeed, consistently pitching 200 strong innings and making three All-Star teams. One would think that Cain would have at least one fan among the writers who would throw a vote his way. Bronson Arroyo did get a vote, and Cain was a somewhat better pitcher.

Alex Rodriguez picked up a few votes in his second year on the ballot. I suspect his course will be similar to Bonds and Clemens, where he gets close over the years but does not make the 75%.

Carlos Beltran starts at 46.5%. I think next year is the big one for Beltran. There are likely writers who did not want to give him the first ballot vote due to the Astros sign stealing scandal. If he leaps forward next season, then he’ll likely be in the Hall sooner than later.

It’s fairly clear at this point that Gary Sheffield is not getting elected, and Jeff Kent is now off the ballot after ten tries. Andruw Jones made a very nice leap upward, and I suspect he’ll reach the 75% threshold in a couple of years.

January 24, 2023

Rolen Elected

The baseball writers elect Scott Rolen to the Hall of Fame. Rolen received 297 votes, 76.3%. Todd Helton missed it by this much, 281 votes, 72.2%. Congratulations to Rolen on an honor well deserved!

January 24, 2023

Hall of Fame Day

The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) reveal the results of their Hall of Fame voting Tuesday night at 6 PM EST on MLB Network. The Hall of Fame vote tracker shows 47% of the ballots revealed, with Todd Helton leading at 80% of the votes and Scott Rolen at 79%. I find it a bit surprising that Helton is ahead of Rolen. Over the years, the people who make their ballots public tend to be “Big Hall” voters, so if either of these candidates make the 75% threshold, I suspect it will be by a hair.

It also appears that Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez will be the only first year players to remain on the ballot.

December 27, 2022

Early Tracker

The Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker discovered just 38 ballots so far, but the trend looks to me like no one getting elected this season. Both Todd Helton and Scott Rolen stand at 77%. Since voters who make their ballots public tend to be “big hall” voters, I don’t think either is polling high enough in this group to over come the private ballot voters.

Helton posted some monster years in his prime with 37.5 of his 61.8 rWAR coming in five seasons from ages 26 to 30. His career .414 OBP and .539 slugging percentages are outstanding. The big draw back for Helton is the Coors advantage. In home games he batted .345/.441/.607. In away games that dropped to .287/.386/.469. Note that he hit 28 triples in home games, just nine on the road.

Rolen best years stretched out over a long period, posting 46.2 of his 70.1 rWAR in eight seasons from ages 22 to 29. He also played a tougher position, third base instead of first. He won eight gold gloves and was Rookie of the Year in 1997. Rolen’s home/road numbers are more aligned also. He did a better job getting on base in his home parks, but hit more homers on the road.

My feeling is that Rolen should get in to the Hall. I would not be upset with Helton gaining recognition, but his case is weaker.

December 4, 2022

Crime Dog Honored

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The Contemporary Era Committee of the Hall of Fame honored one player this year, Fred McGriff:

McGriff was a unanimous choice among the 16 members of the inaugural contemporary baseball era committee, which considered a ballot of eight candidates whose primary contributions to the game took place after 1980. A player needs 75% of the vote to be elected.

McGriff, 59, starred for six different clubs during a 19-year career that ended in 2004. The five-time All-Star clubbed 493 homers and collected 2,493 hits while finishing in the top 10 of MVP balloting in six different seasons, including each season from 1989 to 1993.
ESPN.com

This group rejected the steroid group including Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, and also left out Curt Schilling. It looks like the players agree with the the writers. A number of people thought McGriff should be given a boost since he was known as a clean player, and these voters agreed with that assessment. While his 52 career rWAR is low for the Hall of Fame, it an era without steroids, his production might have been much closer to the top of the league.

McGriff was a favorite of mine throughout his career, and I’m glad to see him elected.

July 24, 2022

Hall of Fame Day

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The Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place today, Sunday, in Cooperstown, NY:

It’s a class highlighted by Red Sox legend David Ortiz, one of the game’s greatest designated hitters. Ortiz achieved first-ballot status, becoming the first player to earn the honor since Jim Thome in 2018. Ortiz was the only player on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot to earn induction this year, further illuminating the polarizing nature of some of Ortiz’s contemporaries.
SportingNews.com

Ortiz was probably the greatest DH, period. Unlike Edgar Martinez, Ortiz had a long history in the post-season where he simply ranked. Take a close look at his situational stats, especially the .653 slugging percentage with men on base and the 3 for 4 with the bases loaded, including a famous grand slam.

Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso, Buck O’Neil, and Bud Fowler also make it in through committees.

July 23, 2022

Kurkjian Honored

Congratulations to Tim Kurkjian on his Hall of Fame Award!

Kurkjian was presented with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Career Excellence Award. He began his career in 1979 at the Washington Star and two years later was the Texas Rangers beat writer for The Dallas Morning News. Four years later, he returned to his native Maryland and joined The Baltimore Sun, covering the Orioles for four years. He then spent seven years as a senior baseball writer at Sports Illustrated.
Chron.com

I worked with Tim at ESPN, and he is one of the most positive people you will ever meet. It’s a well deserved honor.

January 30, 2022

Reset

I saw this idea this morning:

The @SFGiants should re-sign @BarryBonds and put him in a game to reset his hall of fame clock.
— Brandon Hart (@TheBrandonHart) January 26, 2022

I’m not sure that would work now. The BBWAA and the Hall of Fame changed the eligibility period from 15 years to ten years about the time the PED players started to appear on the ballot. As we saw with Jim Rice and Bert Blyleven, it took 15 years for the reporters who didn’t like them to get swamped by the newer reporters who didn’t have personal interactions with the players. If the Giants tried this now, the writers or the hall would make a rule saying you can’t reset the clock.

The Giants should have signed Barry Bonds in 2012 as a pinch hitter, so he would have been kept off the ballot until 2018. That would have given him the 15 years for the older voters to clear out.

I suspect the various veterans committees will put him in the Hall, unless someone makes up a new rule to stop that.

January 25, 2022

Papi Gets the Big Call

The Baseball Writers voted David Ortiz into the Hall of Fame, the only player to pass the 75% threshold in 2022. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens failed to reach the Hall on their final ballot:

Ortiz is a different story, despite his own PED suspicions. A 2009 New York Times story reported that Ortiz was among 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing substances during a round of tests conducted in 2003. Those results were supposed to remain confidential and were done to see if the league had reached a threshold to conduct regular testing.
Ortiz has long denied that he used banned substances, and in 2016, commissioner Rob Manfred said the tests in question were inconclusive because “it was hard to distinguish between certain substances that were legal, available over the counter, and not banned under our program.”
Manfred added that during subsequent testing Ortiz “has never been a positive at any point under our program.”
ESPN.com

Congratulations to Ortiz! I think my Ortiz moment came many years ago when I took my nephew to a Red Sox game. Ortiz came up in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to win the game. I told my nephew that earlier in the year I was at a game Ortiz won with a walk-off home run. Of course, Ortiz let loose with another to win that day’s game. Ortiz recorded 20 walk-off RBI in his career. My stats on this go back to 1974, and only Rickey Henderson and Albert Pujols own more, at 21. Dusty Baker and Andre Dawson also have 20. That’s very good company.

Here are the votes. Scott Rolen polled 63.2%, just behind Bonds and Clemens. Curt Schilling is gone from the ballot at 58.6%. Todd Helton, 52% and Billy Wagner, 51% are the only other players to get at least 50% of the vote.

January 25, 2022

Hall of Fame Day

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The BBWAA announces the Hall of Fame vote for 2022 on MLB Network tonight at 6 PM EST. Given the current vote tracker, now at 48% of the vote, it looks like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens won’t make it. The early reveals, who tend to favor the pair, did not show a big increase toward the duo. David Ortiz is on the edge, and since the late reveals tend to be less generous, Oritz might fall just short.

January 24, 2022

Approaching Fame

David Schoenfield at ESPN.com reviews the candidates and the current known voting for the 2022 class of the Hall of Fame.

Nothing has changed much as the ballots continue to be revealed. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens continue to be net +2, while David Ortiz remains in the low 80% range. We’ll know Tuesday night how the vote finished.