The stage at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is going to be awfully crowded this summer.
The Hall announced Wednesday that the Baseball Writers Association of America has voted Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman into baseball’s most exclusive club. That quartet will join Alan Trammell and Jack Morris, who were elected by the Modern Era Committee back in December.
Edgar Martinez fell just short of the 75 percent threshold needed for election Wednesday, gaining 70.4 percent of the vote, while Mike Mussina followed with 63.5 percent.
Here are the full results:
Player | Votes (Percent) |
Chipper Jones | 410 (92.2) |
Vladimir Guerrero | 392 (92.9) |
Jim Thome | 379 (89.8) |
Trevor Hoffman | 337 (79.9) |
Edgar Martinez | 297 (70.4) |
Mike Mussina | 268 (63.5) |
Roger Clemens | 242 (57.3) |
Barry Bonds | 238 (56.4) |
Curt Schilling | 216 (51.2) |
Omar Vizquel | 156 (37.0) |
Larry Walker | 144 (34.1) |
Fred McGriff | 98 (23.2) |
Manny Ramirez | 93 (22.0) |
Jeff Kent | 61 (14.5) |
Gary Sheffield | 47 (11.1) |
Billy Wagner | 47 (11.1) |
Scott Rolen | 43 (10.2) |
Sammy Sosa | 33 (7.8) |
Andruw Jones | 31 (7.3) |
Jamie Moyer | 10 (2.4) |
Johan Santana | 10 (2.4) |
Johnny Damon | 8 (1.9) |
Hideki Matsui | 4 (0.9) |
Chris Carpenter | 2 (0.5) |
Kerry Wood | 2 (0.5) |
Livan Hernandez | 1 (0.2) |
Carlos Lee | 1 (0.2) |
Orlando Hudson | 0 |
Aubrey Huff | 0 |
Jason Isringhausen | 0 |
Brad Lidge | 0 |
Kevin Millwood | 0 |
Carlos Zambrano | 0 |
Some quick takeaways from the voting:
- Though Edgar fans are surely bummed to see their man fall short, they can feel confident in his prospects for next year, his last on the ballot.
- PED-tainted all-time greats Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens crept forward a bit, but their slow progress suggests they might face a steep climb to eventual induction.
- Mussina, Curt Schilling and Larry Walker all continued to make big gains. Mussina and Schilling are well positioned to get in eventually (and Moose could get the call as soon as next yer), while Walker (in his eighth year of eligibility) still appears likely to run out of time.
- Omar Vizquel did well in his first year on the ballot. Vizquel has been a controversial candidate throughout Hall of Fame season, with supporters pointing to his strong defense and high hit total and opponents citing his poor performance by advanced metrics and lack of All-Star and MVP recognition. That debate should rage for years to come.
- First-time candidates Scott Rolen and Andruw Jones cleared the 5 percent threshold necessary to keep them on the ballot. Both deserve, and will receive, further consideration as the ballot logjam continues to clear.
- Johan Santana, on the other hand, was among the first-timers to fall off after one try, despite his two Cy Young awards and status as one of the best pitchers of the 2000s.
- Every year a few votes, for various reasons, go to woefully under-qualified candidates. This year, we’ve got Chris Carpenter and Kerry Wood receiving two apiece, with Livan Hernandez and Carlos Lee garnering one each.
In the end, the big takeaway is that the BBWAA continues to send qualified candidates to the Hall of Fame. Even if you don’t think a closer with barely 1,000 innings pitched belongs in Cooperstown (*raises hand*), it’s better to be inclusive than exclusive. That Cooperstown will welcome a robust group this summer is good news for everyone.
Vladimir Guerrero. Chipper, Hoffman, and Thome. Think about how many people voted for PED cheats but not for Edgar, Schilling, Mussina, Walker, or McGriff.
Now PED apologists can go back to trying to clear Lance Armtrong’s name, get Russian athletes back in the Olympics, and Aaron Hernandez into the College Hall of Fame.