For the first time since 2020, the Baseball Writers Association has delivered multiple new members to the Hall of Fame, headed up by Adrian Beltre, the superb all-around third baseman mostly with Texas, Seattle and the Dodgers. Joining Beltre in Tuesday’s election were Twins catcher Joe Mauer and Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, both of whom achieved iconic status with their respective franchises.
With 75% of the vote needed for election, Beltre received 95.1%, Helton 79.7% and Mauer 76.1% while former Mets closer Billy Wagner missed election by five votes on his next-to-last year in the ballot.
By virtue of having the magic number 3,000 hits (actually 3,166), Beltre was a lock his first time on the ballot since the only member of the 3,000-hit club not to be elected on the first ballot is steroids-tarnished Alex Rodriguez. But Beltre had plenty of other Hall-of-Fame credentials, including four All-Star Games, five Gold Gloves and six top 10 Most Valuable Player finishes. He’s also one of only four players with 3,000 hits 400 homers (477) and five Gold Gloves.
Mauer, who was also in his first year on the ballot, is the only catcher in history to win three batting titles and was the American League Most Valuable Player for the Twins in 2009 when he was the only catcher ever to lead the league in batting (.365), on-base pct. (.444), slugging (.587) and OPS (1.031), while also winning his second of three straight Gold Gloves. The only knock against him was that his career was shortened and his production diminished after a foul tip off his mask caused a severe concussion in 2013 and he was forced to switch to first base the final four years of his career.
The case for Helton, who jumped from 72.2% to 79.7% on his sixth year on the ballot, was a little more complicated despite his .316 lifetime batting average that included a monster 2000 National League MVP season when he won his third of three batting titles (.365), and led the league in on-base pct. (.444), slugging (.557 and OPS (1.031). Fair or not, Helton was always perceived to have benefitted from the rarified air of Coors Field as evidenced by his .287, .316 OBP and .855 OPS on the road compared to .345, .441 and 1.048 at home. In 2002 when MLB began storing baseballs in a humidor in Coors Field, Helton’s home run total fell to 30 from, 42 and 49 the previous two seasons and he only twice more hit more than 30.
Wagner, a consistently excellent blue-collar closer for 16 year seasons with the Astros, Phillies, Mets and Red Sox, ranks sixth on the all-time saves list 422 and holds the major league records for relievers with 11.9 strikeouts per innings and a .187 opponents’ batting average. What’s held him back was his dismal postseason record — a 10.33 ERA and 21 hits in 11.2 innings.
For Sheffield, who improved from 58.1% last year to 63.9%, it was his final year on the writers ballot and now he will have to wait until 2025 and the Contemporary ERA veterans committee. The volatile Sheff, one of the most fearsome hitters of his time, sure has the Hall-of-Fame numbers — 509 homers, eight 100-RBI seasons, a .batting title in 1992 and a .292 lifetime average — but he remains stained by his link to steroids with Barry Bonds’ trainer in 2002, even though he insisted he didn’t know what they were. Perhaps his biggest deterrent, however, was that he played with eight different teams and seemingly with almost all of them it ended badly.
In recent years there’s been a strong emphasis on defense from the more analytically inclined BBWAA voters, which accounted for the election of Scott Rolen a year ago despite the fact the superb-fielding third baseman had only seven seasons of 130 or more games played, only one top 10 MVP finish and barely 2,000 hits (2,077). This year’s “Rolen” was Chase Utley, who garnered 28.8% his first time on the ballot despite the fact he had only 1,885 hits and really only 4-5 Hall-of-Fame seasons before injuries limited him to a below-average player the last six years of his career.
Defensive analytics is also the reason behind Andruw Jones’ increasing vote totals in the balloting. Jones went from 58.1% to 61.6%, largely on the merits of his defensive metrics which rate him as one of the greatest defensive center fielders of all time. Jones was on his way to Cooperstown with an excellent first nine seasons with the Braves (albeit only two top 10 MVP finishes) when his career mysteriously fell off the cliff, batting under .230 his last six years as he bounced around with five teams.
The case for former Met closer Billy Wagner in the Hall of Fame
Former Mets closer Billy Wagner misses out on Baseball Hall of Fame by 5 votes
Former Yankee Gary Sheffield falls short of Hall of Fame induction on final ballot
Finishing right behind Jones was Carlos Beltran, still feeling the voters’ blowback from the Astros sign-stealing scandal, who made a gain from 46.5% to 57.1%. But with eight more years on the ballot and credentials that include 2,725 hits, 435 homers, eight 100-RBI seasons and a phenomenal postseason with a .307 average, 16 homers, 42 RBI and a record 1.021 OPS in 65 games, he appears trending to eventual election.
By contrast, there is no forgiving from the writers for the steroids cheats. Both A-Rod (34.8% from 35.7%) and Manny Ramirez (32.5% from 33.2%) actually lost votes.
