Called to the Hall

Chipper Jones (above), Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome (below) and Trevor Hoffman are Cooperstown's Class of 2018. All exceeded 75% of the vote by eligible members of the Baseball Writers Association.
Edgar Martinez again had growing support. He was named on over 70% of the ballots. And with only two virtual locks going on next year's ballot, Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay, the odds are better that the Mariners legend will go in alongside Rivera, who more than once called him the toughest batter he ever faced.

As for the others on the ballot:

  • Mike Mussina, 63.5%
  • Roger Clemens, 57.3
  • Barry Bonds, 56.4
  • Curt Schilling, 51.2
  • Omar Vizquel, 37
  • Larry Walker, 34.1
  • Fred McGriff, 23.2
  • Manny Ramirez, 22
  • Jeff Kent, 14.5
  • Gary Sheffield, 11.1
  • Billy Wagner, 11.1
  • Scott Rolen, 10.2
  • Sammy Sosa, 7.8
  • Andruw Jones, 7.2 

Receiving less than five percent support and dropping off future ballots:

  • Jamie Moyer, 2.4
  • Johan Santana, 2.4
  • Johnny Damon, 1.9
  • Hideki Matsui, 0.9
  • Chris Carpenter, 0.5
  • Kerry Wood, 0.5
  • Livan Hernandez, 0.2
  • Carlos Lee, 0.2

  • Orlando Hudson, Aubrey Huff, Jason Isringhausen, Brad Lidge, Kevin Millwood and Carlos Zambrano received no votes.
That five percent rule, designed to separate pretenders from contenders, eliminated two names that I felt deserved strong consideration. As I noted yesterday, Johan Santana had seven outstanding seasons, one more than icons and inductees Sandy Koufax and Dizzy Dean. Dropping Santana so soon borders on short-sighted injustice. And Hideki Matsui, a star in the U.S. and an icon in his native Japan, is the kind of global star that makes it easier to market baseball in all corners of the world as well as to Americans of Japanese ancestry.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rare Remnant of a Lost Ballpark

Image
When the subject of baseball in Brooklyn comes up, the discussion centers around Ebbets Field, the Flatbush venue most famously home to The Boys of Summer.  Those legendary 1940s and '50s teams that featured such historic and beloved players as Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Gil Hodges. Ebbets Field hosted its last major league game in 1957 and was torn down during the winter of 1960. But decades earlier, just before World War One, the Dodgers were based in the Park Slope area and played at Washington Park.  Once they moved out, the land was occupied by another stadium, which housed a different franchise.  The upstart Federal League, which played in the 1914 and '15 seasons, had a Brooklyn team called the TipTops.  Owned by a local baking magnate Robert Ward, whose company produced TipTop bread, the club took over the abandoned lot along 3rd Street and built a new brick and steel venue. The only no-hitter in the Federal League's two-year r
Read more

Another Yankee Trade

Image
Yankee fans: here's a last look at shortstop Trey Sweeney .  The 2021 first round draft choice was part of the three player trade with the Dodgers that brings reliever Victor Gonzalez and infield prospect Jorbit Vivas to New York. Now seeking to rebuild their pitching depth after dealing for Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, the Yanks deemed Sweeney expendable.  While the Louisville native showed promising power in his three seasons with the organization -- he batted only .248 to go with his 36 career homers -- Brian Cashman has committed to Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza as his young middle infielders.  So Sweeney became a trade chip. ( My images of Trey Sweeney are from the Somerset/Binghamton AA games on July 15th and September 19th, 2023. )
Read more

Will He Wear Zero in the Bronx?

Image
The Yankees bolstered their starting rotation with Thursday's signing of Marcus Stroman .  The Long Island native, who spent 2019 and '21 with the Mets before moving onto the Cubs, brings a 77-76 career record to the Bronx, along with a recent loyalty to uniform number (?) zero.  If he requests that, he'd become the third Yank to wear it, following the path of Adam Ottavino and Domingo German.  Of course, neither of their Yankee tenures ended all that well -- Ottavino struggled badly in 2020, before reviving his career with the Red Sox and Mets; German's alcohol and domestic violence issues sabotaged such Yankee highlights as last year's perfect game. Can a number truly be lucky? You can understand kids in little league or high school ball wanting to wear 2 in honor of Derek Jeter or 7 for Mickey Mantle.  But is there an heroic ballplayer associated with 0?  The closest I recall comes from pro football, where the Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame center Jim Otto wore 00
Read more