I’m glad my vote didn’t stop Billy Wagner from getting into the Hall of Fame.
I know I’m in the minority when I say this, but I think Buehrle, who threw 198 or more innings, had a bigger impact and should be in the Hall of Fame because he had a perfect game and a no-hitter and won 10 or more games in 15 straight seasons. 83% of the votes went to him!
It’s close, but Wagner’s case would be stronger if he were higher on the historical list of saves (he’ll be eighth when Crag Kimbrel or Kenley Jansen pass them next year). If only his worst moments weren’t so often the ones people remember.
He only pitched in 14 postseason games and 11 ³/₃ innings, but he coughed up 21 hits or 13 earned runs. From time to time in October, he’d be the opposite of Rivera. I’m not against relievers; I’m for starters.
Kimbrel is also in if Wagner is. Kimbrel and Wagner both have 422 saves, an ERA of 2.40 and a WHIP of 0.998.
However, Kimbrel has more strikeouts each nine innings of work (14.2 vs. 11.9) and is only half as bad during the postseason (4.50 vs. 10.03).
Wagner got only about 10% of the vote the first time he ran for office, and it’s clear that nearly two-thirds of the voters changed their minds.
If you want to call me stubborn, I’m not likely to change my mind based on what other people think, and I don’t expect to convince everyone today either.
I’ve been very critical about our recent voting, largely because we continue to change our minds while retirees’ careers stay the same. I think that we did pretty well this time, even though we tend to be very wishy-washy.
Adrian Beltre or Joe Mauer are two of the six new Hall of Famers who deserved to be elected. The remainder of the nominees are listed below. I didn’t vote over Todd Helton, but I think he’s a great example of a bat with a career.953 OPS.
Andruw Jones (61.6 percent), Carlos Beltran (57.1 percent), Chase Utley (26.8 percent), and Jimmy Rollins (14.8 percent) were the others I voted for. I would have liked them to get in. But I believe Jones, Beltran, and Utley will be ready.
Carlos Beltran Last year, I didn’t vote for him because of the trash-can scandal, but I promised to back him going forward. It’s a shame he didn’t do even better because he was an outstanding five-tool player who ruled Octobers.
Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s part of the Hall of Fame election is expected to be announced at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
There is one clear winner who will get in, several players whose are going to be very close, and a few others who are hoping to get to the 75% threshold needed.
We’ll tell you everything you need to know on the day the results are announced. Here are some things you should look over in the election results.
Important: The percentages shown right now come from the Hall for Fame track website, which keeps an eye on all open ballots until 7 a.m. ET.
Remember that once private ballots or post-result pubic ballots are added to the official count, vote percentages tend to go down, sometimes by a large amount.
Last year, Todd Helton got 78.6% of all pre-result public votes but only 61.8% of the private votes. He ended up with 74.5% overall, which is a few votes less than the winner.
Billy Wagner got 68% of the vote, which is 72.3% of the public vote before the results came in and only 52.9% of the individual votes. So, a player’s current score above 75% does not indicate he’ll definitely get in.
Beltre will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and I’m glad to say that most people no longer think with the annoying “He’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer” attitude.
Still, two people who cast ballots in public so far did not choose Beltre. Beltre has 3,166 hits, 477 home runs, 1,707 RBIs, and five Gold Gloves over the course of his career. I can’t imagine having a ballot and not voting for him.
Still, some people think the Hall of Fame is only for the very best. As Bill James once said, “The Ted Williams/Bob Gibson/Honus Wagner norm for Hall of Fame selection is not present anywhere except inside the imaginations of those who don’t know anything regarding the subject.”