Cooperstown calls for four more, and unanimously for Rivera
To answer this morning’s question of “Who’s joining Harold Baines in the Hall of Fame?”, the voters responded with four more selections.
Mariano Rivera led the way by becoming the first unanimous Hall of Famer, with Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina in tow. Throw in Baines and Lee Smith, and it’s another six-pack of inductees, the third one in six years.
The Baseball Writers Association of America approached 100 percent a couple years ago when Ken Griffey Jr. collected 437 of 440 votes cast, or 99.32 percent. This time around, Rivera was selected on all 425 ballots. He’s the first, but he won’t be the last, and could be joined as soon as next season with Derek Jeter on deck.
Martinez cleared the 75 percent bar with ease in his 10th and final year on the ballot with 85.4 percent of the vote, which tied Halladay on his first year of eligibility. Mussina squeaked by with 76.7 percent, but he counts just as much as Rivera’s perfect score.
As for other down-ballot implications:
*Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds only gained 2 percent apiece (59.5 and 59.1). They still have a shot with three years of eligibility remaining, but this just as easily could represent the best they can do.
*Curt Schilling cracked 60 percent (60.9) with three years to go. Considering he received a boost of 9 percent and compares favorably to new inductees Halladay and Mussina, his path seems clearer, and potentially more so if he could keep his odious views to himself. (Change would be good, too, but he seems too far gone.)
*Larry Walker saw his support jump 20 percent. He needs another 20.4 percent to reach 75 percent in his final year of eligibility, but with the backlog just about cleared, he might have the room to get there.
*Omar Vizquel received 42.8 percent of the vote, which is simultaneously a lot for his second year, and a meager jump from 37 percent the year before. Without a whole lot of analytical heft behind him, it’s possible his support has a ceiling.
*Andruw Jones and Scott Rolen both deserve better (7.5 percent and 17.2 percent), but Walker, who sank to 10.2 percent in his fourth year of eligibility, provides some inspiration.
*Jon Garland and Freddy Garcia both received zero votes.
Author
How does Scott Rolen only get 17.2%?
I think Rivera deserves to be unanimous but so did many who came before (Aaron, Mays, Williams, Musial,…). I’m glad the HOF voters seem to have gotten over the weird idea that some who are 100% deserving need to wait.
@Jim-Margalus: it should read 437 of 440. 🙂
Not only Rolen received little support, but I think he should be in. I wouldn’t complain if Andruw Jones gets in, but then, the voters committed a crime by omitting another CF magician and pretty decent hitter in Jim Edmonds. Although he was not better than Andruw with the glove (very few are), he has pretty good numbers.
Walker definitely should get in.
Please Rick sign Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez!Â
Sox can only offer 300,000. He’ll have much better offers.
Yes, but they need him for their collection of Y-name players plus the similarity with Yolmer.
when do they get to get off the bench?
July 2 of this year.
well then there is a good chance that this guy won’t be signed by then.
I think that you are forgetting that we have a lot of Cuban players, and all Cubans are friends. How can he pass that up?
I wonder how much Baines’ inclusion had an effect on Edgar getting in? Â Has the dam been broken for the DH-only players?
I think Edgar’s jump has more to do with his final year of eligibility than Baines. The DH wall has been eroding gradually with Molitor and Frank, and Egdgar’s induction probably marks the end of it. Which makes sense, because a closer just got 100 percent of the vote, and there’s no pseudo-position more limited.
Curt Schilling changing for the better is unlikely. Other than Ebenezer Scrooge, men usually get worse.
Jimmy’s been awesome all along.
Do I owe you money?
It’s been a while. Â How you been?
Roy Halladay. Larry Walker. Good Lord. Batten down the doors!
Don’t need hall of famers (other than borderline/retired too early Buehrle) to win the World Series; Frank on the bench shouting disparaging words of encouragement.
Not looking great for Bonds and Clemens, which will make David Ortiz’s near 100% election rate on the first ballot all the more amusing.
More notable is Sosa, where the only hard evidence against him is the same dubious test that both Beltre and Ortiz failed. If you made every player going into the Hall testify in front of congress, i’m sure there’d be a lot less players inducted after 2005 or so.
I think the demarcation between Sosa and Clemens / Bonds (at least for me) is that C/B already had HOF worthy careers before the juice. Sosa had tools but wasn’t great UNTIL the juice.Â
#FreeBarryBonds
As it turns out, the bars are set so wide, he could free himself by slipping between the bars. Unfortunately his head is too big!