The Baseball Hall of Fame selects three new members
One of our favorite days here at notinhalloffame.com has come with the Baseball Hall of Fame’s announcement of the Class of 2025.
The Baseball Writers of America have submitted their votes for the Modern Ballot, and this summer Ichiro Suzuki, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner have been elected to Cooperstown.
They will join Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were elected by the Veterans Committee.
To enter the Baseball Hall, a candidate must obtain 75 percent of the vote.
Ichiro Suzuki, Outfield: SEA 2001-12 & 2018-19, NYY 2012-14 & MIA 2015-17. 99.7% on his 1st ballot. Already cemented his name in Japan, winning three Pacific League MVPs, seven Batting Titles, seven Golden Gloves, seven Best Nine Award and a Japanese Series Title with the Orix BlueWave. Suzuki signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2001, and he became an instant sensation in North America. In his first season in MLB, he won the American Rookie of the Year and MVP in his first season, and would overall go to ten All-Star Games, won ten Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers and two Batting Titles. Statistically, he compiled 3,089 Hits with a lifetime .311 Batting Average. He was also inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame.
C.C. Sabathia, Pitcher: CLE 2001-08, MIL 2008 & NYY 2009-19. 86.8% on his 1st ballot. Like Suzuki, Sabathia enters on his first ballot. Winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2007 with Cleveland, Sabathia achieved greater fame with the New York Yankees where he had three consecutive top-five Cy Young finishes (2008-10) and helped the Bronx Bombers win it all in 2009. Sabathia went to six All-Star Games, had a record of 251-161 and 2,093 Strikeouts. He is already in the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame.
Billy Wagner, Pitcher: HOU 1995-2003, PHI 2004-05, NYM 2006-09. BOS 2009 & ATL 2010. 82.5% on his 9th ballot. Wagner gets in on his ninth ballot, jumping from 73.8% last year. It is a seismic jump for the reliever, who had less than 20% in his first four years, but the momentum has been there the last three years. Wagner, who is already in the Houston Astros Hall of Fame, was a seven-time All-Star and had 422 Saves.
Those that did not make the cut were:
Carlos Beltrán, Outfield: KC 1998-2004, HOU 2004 & 2017, NYM 2005-11, SFG 2011, NYY 2014-16 & TEX 2016. 70.3% on his 3rd ballot. Beltran, who has the statistical requirements to make the Hall, looks to still be punished by some voters for his role in the 2017 Astros cheating scandal. Hr did have a considerable improvement from last year’s 57.1%.
Andruw Jones, Outfield: ATL 1996-2007, LAD 2008, TEX 2009, CHW 2010 & NYY 2011-12. 66.2% on his 8th ballot. The ten-time All-Star grew his tally from 61.6%, and though he only has two years left, he is trending in the right direction.
Chase Utley, Second Base: PHI 2003-15 & LAD 2015-18. 39.8% on his 2nd ballot. Utley’s support grew from 28.9% and looks like he will enter the Hall in a few years time.
Alex Rodriguez, Shortstop and Third Base: SEA 1994-2000, TEX 2001-03 & NYY 2004-14. 37.1% on his 4th ballot. Nobody has a better on-field resume than A-Rod, who is a three-time MVP, but he was suspended twice for PEDs. His vote Toal did rise from last year’s 34.8, but he began the process at 34.3%. Rodriguez is just treading water at this point.
Manny Ramírez, Outfield: CLE 1993-2000, BOS 2001-08, LAD 2008-10, CHW 2010 & TBD 2010. 34.3% on his 9th ballot. Ramirez is in the same boat as Rodriguez as he too was twice suspended for PEDs, and though this is highest tally to date, there is no reason to think that he can the 41.7% needed to enter in 2026.
Andy Pettitte, Pitcher: NYY 1995-2003, 2007-10 & 2012-13 & HOU 2004-06. 27.9% on his 7th ballot. Pettitte’s candidacy looked dead in the water, as he dropped to 13.5% last year, and he more than doubled that in 2025.
Felix Hernandez, Pitcher: SEA 2005-19. 20.6% on his 1st ballot. King Felix makes a solid debut, and though he is behind Pettitte, his first tally is much better than Andys.
Bobby Abreu, Outfield: HOU 1996-97, PHI 1998-2005, NYY 2006-09, LAA 2009-12, LAD 2012 & NYM 2014. 19.5% on his 6th ballot. Abreu jumped from last year’s 19.5% but needs to average double digit increases to get into the Hall.
Jimmy Rollins, Shortstop: PHI 2000-14, LAD 2015 & CHW 2016. 18.0% on his 4th ballot. Rollins continues his growth of support, but has yet to see a 4% jump.
Omar Vizquel, Shortstop: SEA 1989-93, CLE 1994-2004, SFG 2005-08, TEX 2009, CHW 2010-11 & TOR 2012. 17.8% on his 8th ballot. Omar might have 17.8% of the vote but has zero chance to get in. During the 2021 voting process, it was revealed that he was a domestic abuser, and since then he seen his support go from over 50% to less than 20. Nobody has fallen like this before, and there is no reason to think he can regain that support.
Dustin Pedroia, Second Base: BOS 2006-19. 11.9% on his 1st ballot. The former MVP may have barely broke 10 percent, but others have started at the similar spot and entered the Hall. Look at Billy Wagner!
Mark Buehrle, Pitcher: CHW 2000-11, MIA 2012 & TOR 2013-15. 11.4% on his 5th ballot. We have reached the half-way point for Buehrle, and 11.4 is the highest percentage he has received to date, but this is not a number that will cut it.
Francisco Rodríguez, Pitcher: ANA/LAA 2002-08, NYM 2009-11, MIL 2011-13 & 2014-15, BAL 2013 & DET 2016-17. 10.2% on his third ballot. K-Rod’s 10.2 is higher than last year’s 7.8, but is lower than his ballot debut of 10.8.
David Wright, Third Base: NYM 2004-18: 8.1% on his 2nd ballot. Wright saw a small increase from his 6.2% last year.
Torii Hunter, Outfield: MIN 1997-2007 & 2015, LAA 2008-12 & DET 2013-14. 5.1% on his 5th ballot. Hunter is clinging for life as one less vote would have eliminated him permanently. HIs highest total was 9.5%, which was his first year on the ballot.
Those that failed to receive the 5% needed to stay on the ballot:
Ian Kinsler, Second Base. TEX 2006-13, DET 2014-17, LAA 2018, BOS 2018 & SDP 2019. 2.5% on his 1st ballot.
Russell Martin, Catcher. LAD 2006-10 & 2019, NYY 2011-12, PIT 2013-14 & TOR 2016-18. 2.3% on his 1st ballot.
Brian McCann, Catcher. ATL 2005-12 & 2019. NYY 2014-16 & HOU 2017-18. 1.8% on his 1st ballot.
Troy Tulowitzki, Second Base. COL 2006-15, TOR 2015-17 & NYY 2019. 1.0% on his 1st ballot.
Curtis Granderson, Outfield. DET 2004-09, NYY 2010-13, NYM 2014-17, LAD 2017, TOR 2018, MIL 2018 & MIA 2019. 0.8% on his 1st ballot.
Adam Jones, Outfield. SEA 2006-07, BAL 2008-18 & ARI 2019. 0.8% on his 1st ballot.
Carlos González, Outfield. OAK 2008, COL 2009-18, CLE 2019 & CHC 2019. 0.5% on the 1st ballot.
Hanley Ramirez, Shortstop, First Base and Third Base. BOS 2005 & 2015-18, FLA/MI 2006-12, LAD 2012-14 & CLE 2019. 0.0% on the 1st ballot.
Fernando Rodney, Pitcher. DET 2002-09, LAA 2010-11, TBR 2012-13, SEA 2014-15, CHC 2015, SDP 2016, ARI 2016, MIN 2018, OAK 2018-19 & WAS 2019. 0.0% on the 1st ballot.
Ben Zobrist, Second Base, Outfield and Shortstop. TBR 2006-14, OAK 2015, KCR 2015 & CHC 2016-19. 0.0% on his 1st ballot
We will now begin revising the Notinhalloffame Baseball list.
If I Had a Vote in the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Election
After a decade of "ballot logjam," has voting for the National Baseball Hall of Fame finally returned to normal? We will know when results from the ballots cast by the qualified members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA, or "the writers") are announced on January 21, 2025, although based on voting trends over the last decade, the bulk of the results are predictable and, by now, unsurprising.
What does a "return to normal" mean? Of the 14 first-time candidates on the BBWAA 2025 ballot, only two, CC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki, stand out as likely Hall of Famers, and neither are a lock for first-ballot induction. Of the 14 returning candidates, none of the "normal" candidates are automatic Hall of Famers, else they would have been elected already. Thus, there is no "ballot logjam," meaning that there are not more than ten sure-fire Hall of Famers who exceed the maximum of ten votes allowed per ballot.
The 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot is out!
Ah, November.
Let’s first begin with what Notinhalloffame.com is thankful for…
Hall of Fame Season amps up every time this year!
Today, the Baseball Hall of Fame has announced the 2025 Ballot, which will be sent to the Baseball Writers of America. Each committee member will send back their ballot, which can contain up to ten names from a 29-player list. This includes 14 returning names and 15 new candidates.
To enter the Baseball Hall of Fame, a candidate must receive at least 75% of the vote.
Here are the 2025 candidates:
Billy Wagner: 73.8% last year and is now on his tenth and final ballot. It is now or the Senior Ballot for the relief pitcher, who has worked his way up from less than 12% on his first three years of eligibility. Wagner compiled 422 Saves (8th All-Time) and was a seven-time All-Star. He finished in the top ten in Cy Young voting twice and is also a former Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year. Ranked #42 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Andruw Jones: 61.6% last year and is now on his eighth ballot. Jones has progressed well, especially considering that he had lower than eight percent in his first two years. The five-time All-Star won ten Gold Gloves, smacked 434 Home Runs, 1,289 RBIs, and was the 2005 NL MVP runner-up. Ranked #29 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Carlos Beltran: 57.1% last year and is now on his third ballot. Have the voters punished Beltran for his role in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal? Probably. Beltran has the stats for the Hall (435 HR, 1,587 RBI) and the accolades (nine All-Stars, two Silver Sluggers, and three Gold Gloves), and it is a matter of time for a player who looked like a fringe first-ballot entry. This could be the year. Ranked #13 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Alex Rodriguez: 34.8% last year and is now on his fourth ballot. No player on the ballot has a better resume than A-Rod, but he has two PED suspensions on a resume with three MVPs, 10 Silver Sluggers, and two Gold Gloves. Boasting 3,115 Hits, 696 Home Runs, and 2,086 RBIs, Rodriguez, Rodriguez can make a claim as one of the ten best players ever, but his 34.8 percent in 2024 is DOWN 0.9 from last year. This is not a Hall of Fame path. Ranked #3 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Manny Ramirez: 32.7% last year and is now on his ninth ballot Ramirez is in the same expensive boat as Rodriguez, as he also has the stats (555 Home Runs, 1,831 RBIs) and the awards (12 All-Stars, nine Silver Sluggers, and two World Series rings) that eclipse many Hall of Famers. However, again, like A-Rod, Ramirez also has two PED suspensions and has treaded water on the ballot since he debuted. Ranked #12 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Chase Utley. 28.8% last year and is now on his second ballot. Utley is a six-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger at Second Base who owns a World Series Ring (Philadelphia 2008). He has 259 Home Runs, 1,885 Hits, and a bWAR over 60. Ranked #30 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Omar Vizquel: 17.7% last year and is now on his eighth ballot. Vizquel looked to be headed toward the Baseball Hall of Fame, but the defensively gifted Shortstop was accused of domestic violence, and his support plummeted to his lowest mark last year (17.7) from 52.6% in 2020. 11 Gold Gloves and over 2,800 Hits won’t matter. Ranked #55 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Bobby Abreu: 14.8% last year and is now on his sixth ballot. Abreu remains on the ballot, but his total dropped 0.6% from last year. He is a two-time All-Star with 2,470 Hits, 288 Home Runs, and a bWAR of just over 60. Ranked #75 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Jimmy Rollins: 14.8% last year and is now on his fourth ballot. Rollins’s 14.8% from last year was his best result, and the three-time All-Star needs a significant jump this year. He is a former World Series winner with the Phillies, won four Gold Gloves and one Silver Slugger, and has 231 Home Runs and 2,455 Hits. Ranked #116 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Andy Pettitte: 13.5% last year and is now on his seventh ballot. Pettitte looks like he will miss Cooperstown, and despite the solid metrics (256-153, 2,448 SO & 60.2 bWAR) and five World Series rings, he was also popped for PEDs. That is probably why he has only broke 15% once (17.0% in 2023). Ranked #43 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Mark Buehrle: 8.3% last year and is now on his fifth ballot. Beuhrle is going nowhere on the ballot, having debuted at 11%, a number he has not hit since. Buehrle had a career record of 214-160 with 1,870 Strikeouts and was a five-time All-Star who won a World Series with the Chicago White Sox. Ranked #73 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Francisco Rodriguez: 7.8% last year and is now on his third ballot. Despite Rodriguez having similar numbers to Wagner, he has fallen since his 10.8% debut. K-Rod was a World Series Champion with the Angels, and record 457 Saves with six All-Star Games and two Rolaids Relief Awards. Ranked #127 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Torii Hunter: 7.3% last year and is now on his fifth ballot. Hunter remains in jeopardy of falling off the ballot, having never made double digits in the vote. Hunter collected 2,452 Hits, smacked 353 Home Runs, and went to five All-Stars, winning nine Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. Ranked #107 on Notinhalloffame.com.
David Wright: 6.2% last year and is now on his second ballot. Playing for the New York Mets for his entire career, Wright played at Third Base where he was a seven-time All-Star and won two Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves. Ranked #90 on Notinhalloffame.com.
The following are making their debut on the ballot:
Ichiro Suzuki: Suzuki should enter on his first ballot and make history as the first Japanese-born player to enter Cooperstown. He has a resume with 3,089 Hits, an MVP, ten All-Stars, ten Gold Gloves, and two Silver Sluggers, as well as a lifetime Batting Average of .311. Ranked #5 on Notinhalloffame.com.
C.C. Sabathia: A five-time All-Star and former Cy Young winner, Sabathia won a World Series with the Yankees and had a career record of 251-161 with 3,093 Strikeouts. He is arguably now the best Pitcher on the ballot. Ranked #29 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Felix Hernandez: “King Felix” won a Cy Young Award with the Mariners, where he had a lifetime record of 169-136 with 2,524 Strikeouts. He was also a five-time All-Star and twice led the AL in ERA. Ranked #66 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Dustin Pedroia: Pedroia helped the Red Sox win two World Series Championships and individually was an MVP with four Gold Gloves four All-Stars, and a Silver Slugger. He compiled 1,805 Hits. Ranked #89 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Ian Kinsler: A World Series Champion with Boston in 2018, Kinsler had his best years earlier with Texas and Detroit, where he went to four All-Star Games and won two Silver Sluggers. He had 257 Home Runs and 1,999 Hits. Ranked #261 on Notinhalloffame.com
Carlos Gonzalez: Gonzalez was a three-time All-Star who also won three Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, and a Batting Title. He had 234 Home Runs and 1,432 Hits. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Curtis Granderson: Granderson belted 344 Home Runs with 1,800 Hits and was a three-time All-Star. Unranked on Nothinhalloffame.com.
Adam Jones: A five-time All-Star with a Silver Slugger and 282 Home Runs, Jones was also a five-time Gold Glove winner. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Russell Martin: The Catcher went to four All-Star Games and was a one-time Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com
Brian McCann: A World Series winner with the Astros, McCann was a seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger at Catcher with 282 Home Runs. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Hanley Ramirez: A former Rookie of the Year, Ramirez had 271 Home Runs with three All-Stars, two Silver Sluggers and a Batting Title. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Fernando Rodney: Rodney won a World Series Ring with the Nationals and had 327 Saves. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com
Troy Tulowitzki: Tulo has a pair of Silver Sluggers and Gold Gloves and was a five-time All-Star. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Ben Zobrist: The infielder had 1,566 Hits, was a three-time All-Star and won two World Series rings, one with Kansas Cty and one with the Chicago Cubs. Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.
Clay Bucholz, Francisco Liriano, Ian Desmond, Jason Vargas, Kendrys Morales, Mark Reynolds, Mark Trumbo, Martin Prado and Melky Cabrera all played enough seasons to qualify for the ballot but were left off.
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We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate those who have made the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.
Our Notinhalloffame.com List has been revised for 2025!
Happy Opening Day!
What better way to celebrate today’s festivities than by unveiling the Notinhalloffame.com Baseball list of those to consider for the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2025?
You can see the entire list of 300 players here, but this is the new Top 10.
This is based on your votes, new entrants, and a blanket look at the candidates.
At #1 is Barry Bonds, the seven-time MVP and all-time leader in Home Runs. The man was a hitting God but was beset with PED allegations and snubbed by both the Baseball Voters and Seniors. Bonds may hold #1 on this list forever.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Roger Clemens is the pitching equivalent of Bonds. He was the best hurler of his generation, but he has the same PED stink that Bonds does. He is ranked #2.
Alex Rodriguez did not fare well in the votes, but we kept him at #3. The three-time MVP and statistical juggernaut was caught with PEDs, leading to two suspensions, but we are giving him a short leash next year. If his voting numbers (by all of you) do not improve, he will plummet from his #3.
At #4 is another controversial figure, Pete Rose. The “Hit King” is banned from the Hall, but stranger things have happened (see Ohtani, Shohei), and a loud contingent wants him inducted.
At #5, the highest debut (and likely first-ballot inductee) is Ichiro Suzuki, who has more Hits than Rose if you combine the Japanese League. Suzuki WILL become the first Japanese player to enter Cooperstown in 2025.
The #6 player is another banned player, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. He was banned for allegedly participating in the 1919 “Black Sox” Scandal.
Career Detroit Tiger Infielder Lou Whitaker is at #7 and late-1800’s Pitcher Jim McCormick finally breaks the top ten at #8.
The Top Ten concludes with Bill Dahlen and Dwight Evans.
You know what we want you to do!
Take a look at the names and cast your votes and opinions!
As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support.
Joe Mauer, Adrian Beltre and Todd Helton inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
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.
The Baseball Hall of Fame unveils the 2024 Modern Player Ballot
The clock begins!
The National Baseball Hall of Fame has unveiled the official Modern Hall of Fame ballot for the 2024 Class, and it features 26 men, 14 of whom are returning names.
Alphabetically, they are:
Bobby Abreu: 5th Year, 15.4 percent last year. Abreu was one of the game’s most patient hitters, having drawn 1,476 career Walks, while batting over .300 six times. A two-time All-Star, Abreu won one Silver Slugger, one Gold Glove and scored 100 Runs over eight times.
Jose Batista: 1st Year on the ballot. Batista is best known for his bat flip and time as a Toronto Blue Jay where he won back-to-back Home Run Titles and Hank Aaron Awards. He went to six All-Star Games and won three Silver Sluggers.
Carlos Beltran: 2nd Year, 46.5% percent last year. Beltran is one of four players (along with Barry Bonds, Willie Mays & Alex Rodriguez) who has at least 1,500 Runs, 2,700 Hits, 400 Home Runs and 300 Stolen Bases. He went to nine All-Star Games, won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. He is a former Rookie of the Year and won the World Series in his final season.
Adrian Beltre: 1st Year on the ballot. Beltre played most of his career at Third Base and is one of the few players in MLB history to have at least 3,000 Hits and 450 Home Runs. He is a four-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger and won five Gold Gloves. He also batted over .300 seven times.
Mark Buehrle: 4th Year, 10.7 percent last year. Buehrle went to five All-Star Games and recorded a record 14 200-inning years in the American League. He won four Gold Gloves and threw a no-hitter. Buehrle also won at least 13 Games twelve times.
Bartolo Colon: 1st Year on the ballot. Colon won the 2005 AL Cy Young and was an All-Star four times. He led the league in Wins once, and topped 15 in that statistic nine times with 247 in total. Colon also is 36th all-time in Strikeouts with 2,535.
Adrian Gonzalez: 1st Year on the ballot. Gonzalez went to five All-Star Games, won five Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. He had 317 Home Runs over his career.
Todd Helton: 6th Year, 72.2 percent last year. Helton was a five-time All-Star who played all 17 of seasons with the Colorado Rockies. The First Baseman had three Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers and smacked 30 Home Runs in six different seasons. He also batted .300 12 times, and won one Batting Title.
Matt Holliday: 1st Year on the ballot. Holliday went to seven All-Star Games and won four Silver Sluggers playing at Leftfield. He won the World Series with St. Louis in 2011.
Torii Hunter: 4th Year, 6.9 percent last year. Hunter won nine Gold Gloves, two Silver Slugger and was chosen for five All-Star Games. He was one of the most exciting players of his day.
Andruw Jones: 7th Year, 58.1 percent last year. Jones was a five-time All-Star, a ten-time Gold Glove recipient and won the 2005 NL Home Run Title. He is in the top fifty all-time in Home Runs with 434.
Victor Martinez: 1st Year on the Ballot. Martinez won two Silver Sluggers, was a five-time All-Star, and he had eight .300 seasons. He is one of four Catchers (along with Carlton Fisk, Ivan Rodriguez and Ted Simmons) with at least 2,000 Hits, 400 Doubles and 200 Home Runs.
Joe Mauer: 1st Year on the Ballot: Mauer played all fifteen of his seasons with the Twins where he won the 2009 MVP. He is the only Catcher to win three Batting Titles, and he went to Six All-Star Games, and won five Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves.
Andy Pettitte: 6th Year, 17.0 percent last year. Pettitte won five World Series Rings with the New York Yankees, and had eight 15-Win years. He went to three All-Star Games and exceeded 200 Innings ten times.
Brandon Phillips: 1st Year on the Ballot. Phillips was a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner at Second Base.
Manny Ramirez: 8th Year, 33.2 percent last year. Twice suspended for PEDs, Ramirez has the stats for the Hall with twelve All-Stars, nine Silver Sluggers and two Hank Aaron Awards. Ramirez batted over .300 eleven times, won three OBP Titles, three Slugging Titles and one Home Run Title. He is 12th all-time in Slugging (.585), 15th in Home Runs (555) and 20th in RBIs (1,831). Ramirez also won two World Series Rings with the Red Sox, winning the MVP in the first one.
Jose Reyes: 1st Year on the ballot. Reyes went to four All-Stars and won one Silver Slugger and Batting Title.
Alex Rodriguez: 3rd Year, 35.7 percent last year. Like Ramirez, A-Rod has the stats for the Hall, but was popped twice for PEDs. He won three MVPs, ten Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves and went to 14 All-Star Games. Rodriguez belted 30 Home Runs in fifteen different seasons, and won five Home Run Titles. He is fourth all-time in RBIs (2,086), fifth in Home Runs (696) and 23rd in Hits (3,115).
Francisco Rodriguez: 2nd Year, 10.8 percent last year. Rodriguez went to six All-Star Games, won two Rolaids Relief Awards, and led the league in Saves three times. He won the World Series in 2002 with the Angels and is fourth all-time in Saves (434).
Jimmy Rollins: 3rd Year, 12.9 percent last year. Rollins’ best years were in Philadelphia where he won the 2007 MVP and the 2008 World Series. He also won four Gold Gloves, was a three-time All-Star, and led the NL in Triples four times.
Gary Sheffield: 10th Year, 55.0 percent last year. A 22-year veteran, Sheffield went to nine All-Star Games, won a World Series with the Marlins and also owns five Silver Sluggers. The Outfielder also has a Batting Title, and is 27th all-time in Home Runs (509).
James Shields: 1st Year on the ballot. Shields played 13 years and was an All-Star once. He posted at least 10 Wins nine years in a row, and was part of two American League Championship Teams.
Chase Utley: 1st Year on the ballot. Utley played most of his career with Philadelphia where he won the 2008 World Series, appeared in six All-Star Games, and captured four Silver Sluggers as a Second Baseman.
Omar Vizquel: 7th Year,19.5 percent last year. Vizquel’s Hall of Fame momentum was derailed by domestic violence allegations which could prevent the 11-time Gold Glove and three-time All-Star from enshrinement. He is also 44th all-time in Hits (2,877).
Billy Wagner: 9th Year, 68.1 percent last year. Wagner is sixth all-time in Saves (422), and second among southpaws. He won one Rolaids Relief Award and went to seven All-Star Games.
David Wright: 1st Year on the Ballot. The Third Baseman went to seven All-Star Games and won two Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves.
We will be paying attention in the upcoming weeks as the votes trickle in.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate those who have made it this far.
We have revised our Notinhalloffame Baseball 300 list to reflect 2024.
Last month, the Baseball Hall of Fame elected Scott Rolen into their midst; a month after the Veteran’s Committee unanimously chose Fred McGriff for the Class of 2023.
This means that for us at Notinhalloffame.com, it is time to revise one of our most important lists, the top 300 Baseball players who we feel are deserving for a look at enshrinement in Cooperstown.
Our list looks at the following criteria:
- Traditional and advanced statistics.
- Playoff performance.
- Impact and influence.
- Your votes and comments.
We take all of these factors into consideration (especially your input), but as years go by, it becomes more difficult to rank players, especially since many of those eligible are tainted with activity that has kept them out. Regardless of how Baseball may have decreased in popularity over the past decades, this is still the pre-eminent sports Hall of Fame in North America, and the standard by which all others are judged.
Specifically for the 2023 list, adjustments were made by removing Rolen and McGriff, factoring in your collective input, and adding former players who are eligible for the 2024 vote.
Our entire list of 300 can be found here, but below, we are pleased to present the Notinhalloffame.com Baseball top 20.
Remaining at #1 is Barry Bonds, the all-time leader in Home Runs (762) and is a seven-time MVP. Controversy overshadows the power hitter, who is universally believed to have taken PEDs, though never tested positive. Bonds concluded his ten years on the modern era ballot with 66%, and had there been 15 years like there were previously, he might have made it. He was on the recent Veteran’s Committee ballot that included McGriff, though Bonds failed to gain the minimum votes needed to even have his number made public. Bluntly, this means that Bonds is further than ever for Hall of Fame induction, as his peers do not view him as worthy. We suspect that Bonds will forever be the most potent hitter to never see a plaque in the Hall, and could remain #1 here for decades (unless, your votes and comments plumet him from the top spot.
Roger Clemens also remains fixed at #2, and most of what we said about Bonds, applies to Clemens, only that he is a Pitcher. A seven-time Cy Young winner, the “Rocket” never was suspended for PEDs, but the clouds around him are ominous, and he also did not win over a lot of friends in the media. Just like Bonds, Clemens had his highest total on his last year of modern eligibility, and did not gain enough votes on his first Veteran Ballot for his tally to be known.
Remaining at #3 is Alex Rodriguez, who was arguably the top player of the 2000s, and he will enter his third year of Modern eligibility. There was nobody (Bonds and Clemens included) whose first year on the ballot intrigued us the most. Unlike Bonds and Clemens, A-ROD DID test positive and served the longest suspension in MLB history. At one time, he was the most hated man in all of sports, yet here we are in 2023 where he has a job with Fox Sports, and was in a high-profile relationship with Jennifer Lopez. His marginal improvement in the 2023 vote does not forecast a Hall of Fame for Rodriguez.
With Pete Rose staying at #4, we have another player who looks to be forever to remain on the outside-looking-in. Baseball’s all-time hit king was banned from Baseball for gambling on the sport, though he has recently made some appearances. The Baseball Hall of Fame has followed the edict of MLB (although they don’t actually have to) and never added him to a ballot of any kind. Even if he is reinstated, he would still have to appear on a Veteran’s Committee ballot, and that group would have to choose him.
With “Shoeless” Joe Jackson at #5, we have a top five (our only) where it is likely that none will ever receive the call. Banned in 1920 for allegedly conspiring to throw the World Series from the year before, Jackson maintained his innocence, and there many suspect that the Outfielder, who may have known about it, did not participate, which reflects his 1919 postseason statistics.
This takes us to #6, Adrian Beltre, who enters his first year on the ballot, and is a bona fide threat to enter on his first attempt. He brings a resume of 3,166 Hits, 477 Home Runs, four All-Stars, four Silver Sluggers and five Silver Sluggers.
Falling one spot to #7 is he former career-Tiger, Lou Whitaker. The Second Baseman and World Series Champion was a one-and-done on his only year on the ballot and is one of the most egregious omissions from the multi-ballot club.
Bill Dahlen, a previous Veterans Committee nominee, is at #8. We expect that he will be on the next one for his respective era.
Dropping one to #9 is Curt Schilling, whose war with the media (and possibly his right-wing politics) resulted in his perpetual snub. At the end of his run on the Modern Era ballot, the Pitcher asked the voters not to select him, and many acquiesced. Schilling was on the same Veteran’s Committee ballot that Bonds and Schilling was on, and though he also was denied induction, he fared much better, gaining 6 votes.
Rounding out the top ten is Manny Ramirez, who though is still on the ballot is running out of time. If Alex Rodriguez is unlikely to get elected, Ramirez has no shot, as he too was suspended, and has weaker (though Hall of Fame worthy) stats than A-Rod.
Todd Helton stays at #11. The “Toddfather” missed out on Cooperstown this year with 72.2 of the vote, but next year on 2024 looks promising for Helton, who enters year number six on the ballot.
Boston’s most wanted for the Hall of Fame, Dwight Evans, holds firm at #12.
Pre-1900 Pitcher, Jim McCormick, advances two spots to #13.
Carlos Beltran had a bit of tumble from #10 to #14. Like others above, Beltran has the stats, but is paying a penance for his prominent role in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal. He received only…. 1st And we suspect that many voters wanted to make him wait a year. Beltran will likely jump significantly on his second vote.
Tommy John, whose career-saving surgery named after him is recognized by the Hall, fell one spot to #15.
The final five of the top twenty all hold the same positions as last year, respectively being; Roger Maris (#16), Dick Allen (#17), Mark McGwire, (#18), Dave Parker (#19) and Rafael Palmeiro (#20).
There are other new entries on our list. They are:
Chase Utley (#28), Joe Mauer (#37), Bartolo Colon (#77), David Wright (#89), Jose Bautista (#220) and Jose Reyes (#271)
We are now going to begin work on revising or Notinhalloffame.com Football 300, where we rank those to consider for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
As always, we thank you for your support, and ask you to continue with your votes and comments.
Scott Rolen Elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame
If you are a Baseball fan, today is the day in “Hall of Fame Season” that is the pinnacle: the annual announcement of the Baseball Hall of Fame Class.
Rolen enters the ballot on his 6th year on the ballot. Increasing his total from 63.2% to squeaking in with 76.3%, Rolen was a seven-time All-Star, a World Series Champion in 2006 with St. Louis and he also won eight Gold Gloves at Third Base and one Silver Slugger. He enters Cooperstown with 2,077 Hits, 316 Home Runs, a bWAR of 70.1 and a decision as to which hat he will wear on his plaque (it has to be St. Louis, right?). Ranked #15 on Notinhalloffame.com.
The players who did not make the Hall were:
Todd Helton, 72.2%, 5th Year on the Ballot. Helton looks like he will wait one more year, but he is getting in, showing a 20.2% rise from the year before. The “Toddfather” blasted 369 Home Runs with 2,519 Hits with a lifetime Batting Average of .316, and the five-time All-Star had four Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves. Helton is ranked #11 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Billy Wagner, 68.1%, 8th Year on the Ballot: Wagner keeps getting closer, showing a sizable increase from his 51% from last year. The former seven-time All-Star and owner of 422 Saves looks to be the next Relief Pitcher to be inducted. Wagner is ranked #41 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Andruw Jones, 58.1%, 6th Year on the Ballot: We were stunned when in both 2018 and 2019, that Jones had less then 10% of the votes, and how could we not be! The native of Curacao has 434 Home Runs, a bWAR over 60, a Silver Slugger and ten Gold Gloves. Last year, Jones had 41.4%, and his voting rise tells us that he will enter this decade. Jones is ranked #38 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Gary Sheffield, 55.0%, 9th Year on the Ballot: Sheffield is a member of the 500 Home Run club, but the nine-time All-Star played for eight different teams, and his appearance on the Mitchell Report does him no favors. He climbed substantially from 40.6%, but he only has one more shot. He won’t get there. Sheffield is ranked #22 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Carlos Beltran, 46.5%, 1st Year on the Ballot. Betran has the Hall of Fame resume (2,725 Hits, 435 HR, 1,587 RBI, 312 SB & 70.1 bWAR) but we suspect that many voters wanted Beltran to pay penance for his lead role in the Astros 2017 sign-stealing cheating scandal. Beltran is ranked #10 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Jeff Kent, 46.5%, 10th Year on the Ballot. It is the end of the road for Kent, who was a former MVP. His tally this year is his highest on the Modern Era ballot, and he now moves into the Senior Pool. Kent is ranked #50 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Alex Rodriguez, 35.7%, 2nd Year on the Ballot. A-Rod has the best resume on the ballot. He is a three-time MVP, 14-time All-Star, ten-time Silver Slugger and three-time Gold Glove winner. His bWAR is over 115. He is a World Series Champion. That will not be enough to overturn his multiple positive PED tests, and no relationship with J-Lo or anyone of her ilk will overcome this. He did improve from last year’s 34.3, but not by much. Rodriguez is ranked #3 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Manny Ramirez, 33.2%, 7th Year on the Ballot. Manny Ramirez is one of the most important players in Red Sox history, but like A-Rod, he was caught taking PEDs after the MLBPA agreed to that players would be suspended if caught. Ramirez will continue to tread water until he is ushered off the ballot in three years. He is Ranked #9 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Omar Vizquel 19.5%, 6th Year on the ballot PEDs have derailed many potential Hall of Famers on this list, but for Vizquel it is domestic violence. When that scandal came out, the 11-time Gold Glove recipient, who was once at 52.0% of the voting, dropped to 23.9% and is now even lower at 19.5%. He has no chance. Vizquel is ranked #49 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Andy Pettitte, 17.0%, 5th Year on the Ballot. Pettitte won 256 Games over his career, won five World Series Rings, but also has a positive PED test, which is costing him a plethora of votes. He is ranked #39 o Notinhalloffame.com.
Bobby Abreu, 15.4%, 4th Year on the Ballot. Abreu amassed 2,425 Hits, was a two-time All-Star and he breaks double-digits in voting for the first time. It is still a tough task for Abreu, but based on his plate-patience, he can wait! He is ranked #77 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Jimmy Rollins, 12.9%, 2nd Year on the Ballot. The former World Series Champion and MVP remains on the ballot with excellent power numbers, but lousy advanced metrics. He is Ranked #110 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Mark Buehrle, 10.8%, 3rd Year on the Ballot. Buehrle continues to cling to the ballot, but is yo-yoing, going from 11.0% to 5.8% and now back up to. Ranked #79 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Francisco Rodriguez 10.8% 1st Year on the ballot. K-Rod survives the first ballot, and he has similar numbers as Wagner; 437 Saves, but owns a World Series Ring. Ranked #172 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Torii Hunter 6.9%, 3rd Year on the Ballot. Hunter continues to hang on for life on the ballot and at this point that might be the best you can hope for. Ranked #194 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Any candidate who received less that 5.0% of the votes are now removed from the modern era ballot.
This means that those who received 0.3% (Bronson Arroyo, R.A. Dickey, John Lackey, Mike Napoli and Huston Street) and 0.0% (Matt Cain, Jacoby Ellsbury, Andre Ethier, J.J. Hardy, Jhonny Peralta, Jared Weaver and Jayson Werth) are eliminated.
We will now remove Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen from our Notinhalloffame Baseball List and add those who are now eligible. The list will also be revised based on your votes, comments, and social media interactions.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and we will see you this summer at Cooperstown!
If I Had a Vote in the 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame Election
Days from the January 24, 2023, announcement by the National Baseball Hall of Fame of candidates who may have been elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), the burning question is not who those candidates, if any, will be. Instead, the burning question is: What morality are BBWAA voters going to legislate for the Hall of Saints this year?
For more than a decade, the controversy over performance-enhancing drugs (PED) has consumed discussion about who should or should not be elected to the Hall, capped by the late Hall of Famer Joe Morgan's now-infamous 2017 missive to voters about keeping the PED Penitents out of Cooperstown. But although the PED predicament remains—among the returning candidates on the 2023 BBWAA ballot are Manny Ramirez and Álex Rodriguez—voters are now finding other performance flaws in candidates to deny them entrance to the Hallowed Hall.
Major Update: Our Baseball List has been revised for the 2023 Vote.
Is it that time again!
One of our core lists on Notinhalloffame.com, our Baseball list of those to consider for the Baseball Hall of Fame has been revised.
The steps in our revisions are basic:
-Remove all of those who were inducted. This included David Ortiz (#8), Gil Hodges (#11), Minnie Miniso (#14), Jim Kaat (#20) and Tony Oliva (#27).
-Input those we think worthy who are now eligible.
-Adjust rankings based on your votes and comments.
Before we announce our top ten, note that we did one major change. We used to have three number ones, with Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson appearing as 1A and 1B since our inception, as both were deemed ineligible. We have altered this with no multiples at the top, and although Rose and Jackson are still not welcome into Cooperstown, we disagree, and will keep them ranked.
The entire list can be found here, but here is our new top ten:
#1. Barry Bonds. Bonds’ ten years of eligibility may have ended a few months ago, but the all-time leader in Home Runs leader won seven MVPs, despite there being a cloud of PED suspicion around him. His chances now lie with the Veteran’s Committee. Bonds was ranked at 1C last year.
#2. Roger Clemens. Clemens is like Bonds, in that he too ended his regular stay on the ballot, and was likely excluded due to the belief that he might have used PEDs. Clemens won the Cy Young seven times, and remains at #2.
#3. Alex Rodriguez. Unlike Bonds and Clemens, Rodriguez DID test positive for PEDs, which happened after the 2004 agreement between the players and MLB that outlawed the enhancers. A-Rod was on his first year of eligibility, drawing only 34.3% of the vote, despite being a three-time MVP. He holds the same rank as last year.
#4. Pete Rose. Rose is the all-time leader in Hits, but he has been from baseball for gambling on the sport. Ranked at #1A last year, Rose drops considerable on this list, but despite the issues of the players of above him, Rose actually has a significantly lower bWAR than Bonds, Clemens and Rodriguez.
#5. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. Ranked #1B last year, Jackson is ineligible for the Hall due to his possible participation in the throwing of the 1919 World Series. That being said, there are many, including us, who feel that he belongs.
#6. Lou Whitaker. The former Tigers Second Baseman might not have lasted more than one year on the Hall of Fame ballot, but he was once on the Veteran’s Ballot, and is considered one of the more egregious snubs by sabremetricians. He was ranked #4 last year.
#7. Bill Dahlen. Dahlen was a previous Veteran’s Committee Nominee, and that is still the route in which he needs to gain entry to Cooperstown. The Shortstop was a two-time leader in Defensive bWAR and won a World Series Ring with the Giants in 1905. He was ranked #5 last year.
8. Curt Schilling. Schilling asked to be removed off of the ballot, and that didn’t happen, and many of the voters acquiesced to his later request to be removed from consideration. On his last year on the ballot, Schilling dropped from 71.1 to 58.6, and despite his resume, it is conceivable that he will never see a Veteran’s Committee ballot.
9. Manny Ramirez. Ramirez entered the ballot in 2017, and offensively he statistically had a better resume than Ivan Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero, both of which are now in Cooperstown. He is in the same vein as A-Rod, as he was popped for PEDs as a player. Ramirez will enter his seventh year on the ballot, but has yet to crack 30%.
10. Carlos Beltran. Beltran is the only new entry in his first year of eligibility, and the nine-time All-Star has the stats for the Hall, but his recent scandal involving the Astros World Series win, could cost him some votes.
There were other new entries, including closer, Francisco Rodriguez, who debuts at #172. To close off the list, a new #300 had to come in, which was Derrek Lee.
Thank you all for your support, and we encourage you to cast your votes and offer your opinions.
If I Had a Vote in the 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Election
On a ballot packed with qualified candidates for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, is it possible that none of them will be elected this year?
If that happens, as it did last year, it would be the third time in the last decade that the qualified voters of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) have thrown a shutout at the Hall of Fame. This is an odd paradox considering that after the Big Zilch of 2013, the BBWAA in subsequent years went on to elect 22 players across the next seven ballots, with the various guises of the veterans committee voting in another five players (and six non-players) during that seven-year span. (In 2013, the veterans committee did elect three candidates to the Hall.)
Last year, Curt Schilling, who had garnered 70 percent of the vote on the previous ballot, seemed to be a lock for election. Instead, he stalled with a negligible increase in support, then threw a social-media Trumper tantrum declaring that he wanted to be removed from this year's ballot. The Hall of Fame quickly responded that it would not do so.
The 2022 Baseball HOF ballot is officially out
It’s on!
The 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is officially out with seventeen returning players and thirteen new first year eligible names.
To return on the ballot, a player must be within their ten years of eligibility and received at least 5% of the vote.
The returning former players are: (with their year of eligibility and last year’s result)
Curt Schilling: 10th Year, 71.1%
Barry Bonds: 10th Year, 61.8%
Roger Clemens: 10th Year, 61.6%
Scott Rolen: 5th Year, 52.9%
Omar Vizquel, 5th Year, 49.1%
Billy Wagner, 7th Year, 46.4%
Todd Helton,4th Year, 44.9%
Gary Sheffield, 8th Year, 40.6 %
Andruw Jones, 5th Year, 33.9%
Jeff Kent, 9th Year, 32.4%
Manny Ramirez, 6th Year, 28.2%
Sammy Sosa, 10th Year, 17.0%
Andy Pettitte, 4th Year, 13.7%
Mark Buehrle, 2nd Year, 11.0%
Torii Hunter, 2nd Year, 9.5%
Bobby Abreu, 3rd Year, 8.7%
Tim Hudson, 2nd Year, 5.2%
The new former players are:
Carl Crawford
Prince Fielder
Ryan Howard
Tim Lincecum
Justin Morneau
Joe Nathan
David Ortiz
Jonathan Papelbon
Jake Peavy
A.J. Pierzynski
Alex Rodriguez
Jimmy Rollins
Mark Teixeira
Notably Coco Crisp, Marlon Byrd, Michael Bourn, Kyle Lohse, Angel Pagan, Omar Infante, Matt Thornton, Billy Butler, Colby Lewis, Jeff Francoer, Javier Lopez and Ryan Vogelsong were eligible this year, but were not included on the ballot.
The results will be announced on January 25, 2022.
Major Update: Our Baseball List has been revised
We are a month removed from the Baseball Hall of Fame 2021 vote, and that means it is time to release our new list of those to consider for Cooperstown in 2022. With nobody elected in 2021, there are no removals from the list, but there are four new entries. We currently have 108 on this list, and by Spring, we will be expanding it to an even 300, which will be our fixed number moving forward.
As per our first year, there are three number ones, with the rational showing one eligible, and two ineligibles (Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson) due to gambling.
Remaining at #1A is Pete Rose, the man who collected an all-time record 4,256 Hits. Rose was banned from the game over 30 years ago for betting on baseball.
Also, staying at #1B, is “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. Jackson was suspended for his alleged participation in the Chicago White Sox throwing of the 1919 World Series.
Barry Bonds is at #1C. Bonds is the all-time leading Home Run leader with 762, and he is also first in Walks (2,558), Win Probability Added (127.7) and Power-Speed # (613.9). While never caught, the seven-time MVP was widely suspected of PED use, and the Baseball Hall of Fame voters have kept him out. He only has one year left of eligibility.
Roger Clemens is just behind Bonds at #2. Like Bonds, Clemens has been kept out of Cooperstown due to PED suspicion, and he is also entering his tenth and final year on the ballot. Clemens is a seven-time Cy Young Award winner and is third all-time in Strikeouts (4,672).
The highest debut is Alex Rodriguez, who appears at #3. Unlike Bonds and Clemens, Rodriguez was twice suspended for PED use, but also, unlike Bonds and Clemens, he seems to be welcomed back as shown by his gig at Fox. Rodriguez is fourth all-time in Home Runs (696).
Former Detroit Tiger Second Baseman, Lou Whitaker, is at #4. Whitaker was a member of Detroit’s 1984 World Series Championship team, and is considered one of the best infielders not in the Baseball Hall.
Bill Dahlen, a former star in the 1900s is in at #5. Dahlen won a World Series with the New York Giants in 1905, and is still in the top-fifty in bWAR for Position Players.
Curt Schilling is at #6. The former two-time World Series champion has one year left and has asked to be removed from the ballot after failing to enter the Hall. He has feuded with media in the past, and his current right-wing politics have alienated many others.
At #7 is Manny Ramirez. Like Rodriguez, Ramirez has also been suspended for PEDs twice, and it has hampered his pursuit for a Hall of Fame plaque.
Our second top-ten debut is at #8, David Ortiz, Ramirez’s former teammate in Boston. With the Red Sox, Ortiz became the best Designated Hitter that baseball has ever seen, and would win three World Series rings.
Todd Heltonremains in the top ten at #9. The career Colorado Rockie is trending towards induction in roughly three years.
Tommy Johnrounds out the top ten. Ironically, the surgery that bears his name, is recognized by the Hall. His only path for induction is with the Veteran’s Committee.
There are two other new entries, Mark Teixeira at #93 and Jimmy Rollins at #102.
Thank you all for your support, and look for our revised Football list next month.
Baseball Hall of Fame: Ballot Forecast 2021 to 2025
In a tumultuous year that was not normal for anything and everything including baseball, one thing that might be back to normal is voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Granted, the 2021 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has 14 returning candidates, with just about every one of them owning cases for induction that range from borderline to compelling.
Our All-Time Top 50 Seattle Mariners are now up
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Seattle Mariners.
Entering the American League as an expansion team in 1977, the Seattle Mariners have had a lot of great players, but despite that, they are the only team to have never appeared in the World Series.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.
This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.
The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article. They are:
We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.
Look for our All-Time Top 50 Tampa Bay Rays coming next!
As always we thank you for your support.
6. Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez only played with the Seattle Mariners until he was 25 years old, but he had already established himself as one of the most exciting players in the game. Based on the mega-deal he signed with the Texas Rangers when the Shortstop left the Mariners, the consensus was that he was also one of the best.
Kenny Lofton speaks on the Baseball HOF
This one is really interesting to us!
In an interview with the New York Post, former Outfielder Kenny Lofton was very blunt about his feelings about why he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He had this the following to say:
“I was expecting to do better. But I’m a realist. I look back at the situation, and at that time, I think what happened for me was I came out on the ballot in the wrong year. There was so many people on the ballot, and so many people who had a potential situation with the performance-enhancing drugs. I felt a lot of voters wanted to keep those guys on the ballot, and that was votes taken away from me…
…I just don’t like it. It pisses me off when they still talk about the guys who did PEDs still have the opportunity to get in. You cheated the game. Look at somebody like Pete Rose not in the Hall of Fame. I’m not saying what Pete Rose did was right, but his numbers that he put up were real numbers. If it’s all about numbers, guys who cheated the game shouldn’t be in. PED guys piss me off. I just get irked every time I hear people talk about it.
You’ve got Fox having a guy who got caught with PEDs doing the World Series. I can’t even watch the World Series now. That’s sad, you have a game that I love, I played 17 years in it, and you have Major League Baseball allowing a guy that knowingly cheated the game twice, and he’s the face of baseball, doing the World Series. That is not cool.
To see somebody who cheated the game blatantly is doing the World Series? Come on, people. You’re basically telling kids nowadays that it’s OK to cheat the game of baseball.”
When you take a deep dive into the 2013 ballot, Lofton isn’t wrong. First off, Lofton entered the ballot the same year as Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa. All three of those players have been accused of PED use and it is widely believed that they did partake in those and substances. With Clemens and Bonds you have in terms of individual awards and statistics these this is the best pitcher and hitter respectively in their day. Sammy Sosa at one time was also considered a lock. Clemens would receive 37.6% of the vote while Bonds was slightly behind at 36.2%. As for Sosa he had a paltry 12.5%.
Leading up to this ballot many of the baseball writers who had Hall of Fame votes were open upon their disdain for the suspected (and proven) PED users. Some of them went as far as to publicly question the entire era and ballot. Comments such as “we don’t know who cheated” became commonplace and it was clear that there was going to be a backlash.
Keep in mind that the ballot did not just contain three suspect candidates in Clemens, Bonds and Sosa. Mike Piazza also debuted on the ballot and had steroid talk around him. So did Jeff Bagwell, who was on his third year of the ballot at the time. Both would eventually get inducted but later than they should have. The 2013 ballot also had Rafael Palmeiro who was caught taking PEDs and he barely hung on with 8.8% but he would fail to make the required 5% in 2014. Mark McGwire who was an admitted user was on his seventh year and he did not even hit the 20% mark. This is a lot of people who turned off Hall of Fame voters. Keep in mind that in 2013 the Baseball Hall of Fame voted in NOBODY, though they would later elect Piazza, Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Tim Raines and Edgar Martinez on that ballot. Jack Morris, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell who were also on the ballot would be chosen via the Veteran’s Committee.
The other factor that worked against Lofton was that this was a very crowded ballot. Beyond the names already mentioned, Curt Schilling, Fred McGriff, Larry Walker, Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly and Bernie Williams were eligible for voting. As a voter can only select ten players, it is possible that even had there been no voter backlash it is possible that Lofton might not have gotten past the first year of eligibility.
This is not to say that Lofton is not a Hall of Famer, just the victim of a crowded ballot and as he stated a backlash against the era in which he played. Statistically he has a career bWAR of 68.3, a very good number that aligns with another members of Cooperstown, though his JAWS is slightly lower (55.9) than the average Hall of Fame Centerfielder (57.8). Still, this is higher than Hall of Famers such as Andre Dawson and Kirby Puckett. His traditional numbers of 2,428 Hits with a .299 Batting Average also fits into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The negative surrounding Lofton is that some perceive him as a bit of s baseball nomad. Lofton is most associated with Cleveland where he played parts of 10 of his 17 seasons, but he also had stints with Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Texas, Los Angeles, the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Houston and the Chicago White Sox. That type of activity can rightfully or wrongfully decrease a perceived value.
While Lofton is not in the Hall of Fame now, he could potentially get inducted in the future. Other players have been on one and done on the ballot and would be nominated by the Veteran’s Committee.
Going forward, Lofton raised an interesting that question that all who are looking at the Baseball Hall of Fame futures are wondering about…Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod is at the level of a Bonds and Clemens but Rodriguez remains in the public eye both in terms of baseball in regards to work as an analyst with Fox and in entertainment as he is currently in a relationship with pop mogul, Jennifer Lopez. If you were Kenny Lofton, wouldn’t it look to you as though Rodriguez was “forgiven”?
As for us, we here at Notinhalloffame.com have discussed the merits of Kenny Lofton on multiple occasions and our latest ranking places him #44.
A-Rod comments on Bonds and Clemens and the Baseball HOF
The day after the Baseball Hall of Fame, or really any Hall for that matter the natural conversation comes to those who will be eligible soon. Alex Rodriquez will be eligible for Cooperstown in 2022 and he was asked by ESPN’s First Take about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who both saw their tally creep towards 60% on their seventh year of eligibility. A-Rod had this to say:
"Look, I pray every day I get a chance to get in. The Hall of Fame is the ultimate place.
If you think about Roger and Barry specifically ... if you stopped their career at the age of 33 or 34, they were both first ballot and then the noise [about PEDs] started. For me, it's just a shame. I am certainly cheering for both of them. I like them both very much. They're both friends, and I'm in their corner.
I've taken the approach that I think talking about it is best…I've made my mistakes, I've paid huge penalties.
I would love to get in [to the Hall of Fame], but I understand that I made my own bed. So if I don't make it to the Hall of Fame, I can live with that. I will be bummed, it would suck and I can't believe that I put myself in this situation. But if that happens, I have no one to blame but myself.”
Rodriguez certainly has the Hall of Fame numbers. This is a 3 time MVP, 10 time Silver Slugger 14 time All Star who gas 2,1155 career Hits with 696 Home Runs. Where we disagree with Rodriguez however is his perceived association with Clemens and Bonds. Those two were linked with PEDs before Major League Baseball and the Players Union had agreed on how to handle that issue. Bonds and Clemens were ever suspended. Rodriguez was.
In our eyes, A-Rod is in the same category as Manny Ramirez who was popped for PEDs after the agreement was made, though one major difference is that Rodriguez is back in Baseball as part of Fox Sports and Ramirez does not enjoy the same level of post playing exposure.
As always we here at Notinhalloffame.com will be paying attention.
Our 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Futures are now up
It never stops for us at Notinhalloffame.com and nor do we ever intend for it to.
Early in the new year, the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announcing the Class of 2019 but before that we have updated our Baseball Futures and here are the potential additions to the that ballot in 2022.
In alphabetical order by their first name:
A.J. Pierzynski: The Catcher was certainly famous (or infamous in some cases) is a two time All Star, one time Silver Slugger but importantly was the pulse that helped the Chicago White Sox win the 2005 World Series.
Alex Rodriguez: Love him or hate him, PED or not, A-Rod was one of the greatest players of all time. A three time MVP and fourteen time All Star, Rodriguez retired with 696 Home Runs, 3,115 Hits, 2,086 Runs Batted In and a bWAR of 117.8, which are all first ballot Hall of Fame numbers however he WAS caught with PEDs and suspended. He does however have a job broadcasting so his forgiveness trail seems much quicker than some.
Angel Pagan: Pagan was a two time World Series Champion with the San Francisco Giants and he would lead the National League in Triples in 2012. Pagan is also a two time Silver Medalist at the World Baseball Classis representing Puerto Rico.
Billy Butler: Mostly used as a Designated Hitter, Butler would go the All Star Game in 2012, which would be the same season he was named the winner of the Edgar Martinez Award.
Carl Crawford: Crawford was at his best when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays and it was there where he would become a four time All Star who woud also lead the American League four times in Triples and in Stolen Bases. He would collect 1,931 Hits over his career.
Coco Crisp: Crisp would help the Boston Red Sox win the World Series in 2007 and he would also lead the AL in Stolen Bases in 2011. He would have 1,572 Hits over his Major League Baseball career.
Colby Lewis: Lewis would have a decent career as a starter where he would win 77 Games.
David Ortiz: “Big Papi” is a legend in Boston and how can he not be? Ortiz powered the Red Sox to three World Series Championships and he was a ten time All Star. Ortiz is in the opinion of many the greatest Designated Hitter that ever lived and he has 541 career Home Runs with an OPS of .931. He should receive a very healthy first year ballot percentage.
Jake Peavy: Peavy was the National League Cy Young Award winner in 2007 and was a three time All Star. He would win 152 Games, 92 of which were with the San Diego Padres.
Javier Lopez: Lopez only won 30 Games with 14 Saves over his long career as a Relief Pitcher but he is a four time World Series Titles, one with Boston and three with the San Francisco Giants.
Jeff Francouer: Francouer would win a Gold Glove in 2007 and would have 1,373 Hits over his career.
Jimmy Rollins: A three time All Star at Shortstop, Jimmy Rollins would win the National League MVP in 2007 and lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series the nest year. He retired with 2,455 Hits and 231 Home Runs.
Joe Nathan: Nathan was a six time All Star closer who won the Rolaids Relief Award in 2009. He finished his career with 377 Saves.
Jonathan Papelbon: Papelbon was named to the All Star Game six times and he was huge part of the Boston Red Sox 2007 World Series win. He retired with 368 Saves.
Juan Uribe: Uribe was a two time Wilson Defensive Player and the infielder would accumulate over 1,500 Major League Hits.
Justin Morneau: The 2006 American League MVP with the Minnesota Twins was a four time All Star. Late in his career he would have a resurgence where he won the Batting Title (2014) with the Colorado Rockies.
Kyle Lohse: Lohse would win 147 Major League Games and he helped the St. Louis Cardinals win the 2011 World Series.
Mark Teixeira: A five time All Star, Mark Teixeira would blast 4009 Home Runs with 1,862 Hits over a career that is best known with the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. A member of the Yankees 2009 World Series Team, the First Baseman is also a three time Silver Slugger and five time Gold Glove winner.
Marlon Byrd: An All Star in 2011, Marlon Byrd would have over 1,500 Hits over his career.
Matt Thornton: A Relief Pitcher throughout his career, Matt Thornton was an All Star in 2010 and a World Series winner the next season with St. Louis.
Michael Bourn: A two time All Star, Michael Bourn would lead the National League in Stolen Bases three times and was also a two time Gold Glove winner. Bourn also would finish first in Total Zone Runs twice.
Omar Infante: Infante was an All Star in 2010 and collected 1,427 Hits over his career.
Prince Fielder: Fielder was a powerhouse like his father and the six time All Star was the Home Run leader in the National League in 2007. A three time Silver Slugger belted 319 Home Runs over his career.
Ryan Howard: The 2006 National League MVP played his entire career with the Philadelphia Phillies and he would later propel them to the 2008 World Series. Howard blasted 382 Home Runs over his career and was a two time league leader in that statistic.
Ryan Vogelsong: Vogelsong was a two time World Series Champion with the San Francisco Giants who was also an All Star 2010. He would win 61 Games over his career.
Scott Kazmir: Kazmir was a three time All Star who won 108 Games over his career. As a Tampa Bay Devil Ray, he would lead the American League in Strikeouts in the 2007 season.
Tim Lincecum: Lincecum was a two time National League Cy Young Award winner who was also a four time All Star. “The Freak” would win 110 Games in the Majors.
You know what we want you to do!
Take a look at the full list of 2022 Future Baseball Hall of Fame Eligibleplayers and cast your vote and offer your opinions.
As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support!
4. Alex Rodriguez
Let's get all the derogatory stuff out of the way…and we know there is a lot.
While we talked about PED use a lot with Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, et all., they were baseball superstars who took enhancements (allegedly) when the players' union and Major League Baseball had not yet agreed that they were banned substance. That is important to note, as Alex Rodriguez was caught when there were penalties in place, leaving no doubt that he cheated and was suspended from the game for the entire 2014 season.
There is more, of course.
The Yankees famously tried everything to get out of the lavish contract they signed him to. A-Rod folded in many postseasons and clutch situations. He was also not known to be the most cohesive figure in the clubhouse.
That is a lot of negative, and yet…
Alex Rodriguez is still one of the best players that ever played the game.
Touted as a superstar, Alex Rodriguez was the first overall choice of the 1993 Draft. In the year he turned 20, he won the American League Batting Title with a 36-homer season and an OPS of 1.045. A-Rod was the cornerstone of a young, dynamic Seattle Mariners team that was a strong World Series contender in the late '90s. He was considered the best offensive infielder in baseball and one of the game's most complete players.
When he achieved free agency, Rodriguez signed what was at the time by far the richest contract in baseball history with the Texas Rangers. While he couldn't make Texas a contender, Rodrigues did not disappoint, winning three straight Home Run titles and his first MVP (2003). Texas, however, could no longer afford him, and after a deal was voided to Boston, A-Rod moved to New York, where the most controversial yet productive period began.
While many remember the bad times with New York, it should never be forgotten that this was where he won two more MVP Awards, two more Home Run Titles, and three more Slugging Titles. He went yard 351 times as a New York Yankee alone! As mentioned, his postseason performance (.259/.365/.457 over 330 Plate Appearances) is well below his regular season numbers. His 2009 postseason was excellent and a part of why the Yankees won the 2009 World Series. If he does get into the Hall of Fame, shouldn't it be as a New York Yankee?
Love him or hate him, we are talking about a player who is a statistical juggernaut. He has a career bWAR over 117, is a member of the 3,000 Hit Club and smashed 696 Home Runs. His career Slash Line of .295/.380/.550 is also excellent considering the longevity of his career. These digits are impossible to ignore, no matter what lens you use.
For the record, if we here at Notinhalloffame.com had a Baseball Hall of Fame vote, we would vote for him (we think). Maybe we would not.
The issue that we deal with in regards to Rodriguez is that his PED use took place AFTER the MLBPA agreed to the parameters of what would happen if you used them. Not only that, he was suspended twice. A-Rod might be welcomed back into the fold as a broadcaster, but the voters are rejecting him, and we understand why.