Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman were elected to the baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, marking just the fourth time that the Baseball Writers have elected four or more new members on the same ballot.
Designated hitter Edgar Martinez came close to becoming the first primarily designated hitter to be elected to the hall, finishing with 70% of the vote. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who are both still attached to the steroid era and have been proven to have used performance enhancers, gained a little bit of favor but again fell far short, but in this writers opinion, they will get in someday without a doubt as the older writers are phased out.
Jones and Thome made it 54 players elected in their first year of eligibility by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Jones drew a surprising, yes surprising, 97.2 percent in results announced Wednesday, and Thome was at 89.8 percent. As an Astros fan, I can’t help but be a little salty that Craig Biggio had to wait three years to get into the hall, while Jones got in on the first ballot. I guess that’s what winning double digit NL East division titles in a row will do for you.
Jones was an eight-time All-Star third baseman for the Atlanta Braves. The switch-hitter batted .303 with 468 home runs, which ranks near the top for switch hitters in MLB history. He also won the 1999 NL MVP award.
Jones was a star for most of the Atlanta teams that won 14 straight division titles. His inclusion in the hall puts another member of those absurdly good Braves clubs in Cooperstown, joining pitchers John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux(that was really their top three in the rotation….not fair) manager Bobby Cox and general manager John Schuerholz are also members of the Baseball hall of fame.
Jim Thome hit 612 home runs, putting him eighth on the career list. The five-time All-Star played mostly for the Cleveland Indians, but made his way around the MLB quite a bit, eventually winning a World Series in Chicago with the team that swept that Houston Astros in the 2005 World Series.
Guerrero was elected in his second try, getting 92.9 percent. The nine-time All-Star slugger played half his career with the now non-existent Montreal Expos. The outfielder was a notorious bad-ball hitter, batting .318 with 449 homers and 1,496 RBIs.
Hoffman was chosen in his third year, getting 79.9 percent after missing by just five votes last time. The former San Diego Padres closer had 601 saves, second to Mariano Rivera’s 652. He was a very consistent player throughout his career, which he spent entirely with San Diego.
Clemens, who won 354 games and seven Cy Young Awards, got 57.3 percent after drawing 54.1 percent last time. Bonds, the career home run leader and a seven-time MVP, reached 56.4 percent, up from 53.8 percent.
Clemens and Bonds each have four tries left. They need to get in. They played in an era where seemingly more players juiced than didn’t, they just happened to get caught when the MLB began cracking down on PEDs initially. The morality clause is the dumbest thing in all of sports. Many of the players in the hall cheated in ways other than PEDs, such as spit balls, and there are also those players that got in because of stats they accrued while players of color were not allowed to participate at the Major League level. The four new members will be inducted on July 29 .