“At 40 years of age, we are in our forties, at 50, in our fifties… After 90, we are decrepit old men”… Joseph Mckadew.
The Cooperstown Hall of Fame will welcome two new inductees, Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff, tomorrow, Sunday at noon.
David Concepción, who was not elected in 15 years as a candidate before journalists, nor three times before the Veterans Committees, deserves a niche in that museum more than the pair in the process of such honors.
However, I accept and support the choice. It is the democratic system that has prevailed in these efforts for 88 years.
But I can’t help but say that Rolen, an average third baseman, doesn’t deserve the spot he’ll be given tomorrow. Imagine! alongside position figures such as Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Frank Baker, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Ray (Talúa) Dandridge, Chipper Jones, Eddie Mathews, Paul Molitor, Ron Santo and company.
Of course I didn’t vote for him. My 2023 return was blank. I did not vote for any candidate.
Rolen obtained 297 votes out of a total of 389 (76.3%), in his sixth year as a candidate. In the first chance, in 2018, he received only 10.2%.
As for McGriff, elected unanimously of 16 votes through the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee, in his years as a candidate before journalists, his highest vote was 39.8% in 2019.
To be elected this year by journalists, the candidates needed no less than 292 votes or 75%. These are the votes cast by the Major League Baseball Writers Association of America:
Scott Rolen: 297, 76.3% Todd Helton: 281, 72.2% Billy Wagner: 265, 68.1% Andruw Jones: 226, 58.1% Gary Sheffield: 214, 55% Carlos Beltran: 181, 46.5% Jeff Kent: 181, 46.5% (last year on plan polling station)Alex Rodríguez: 139, 35.7%Manny Ramírez: 129, 33.2%Omar Vizquel: 76, 19.5%Andy Pettitte: 66, 17%Bobby Abreu: 60, 15.4%Jimmy Rollins: 50, 12.9%Mark Buehrle: 42, 10.8%Francisco Rodríguez: 4 2, 10.8%Torii Hunter: 27, 6.9%
They are no longer candidates because they received less than 5% of the vote:
Bronson Arroyo: 1 voto, 0.3%R.A. Dickey: 1, 0.3%John Lackey: 1, 0.3%Mike Napoli: 1, 0.3%Huston Street: 1, 0.3%Matt Cain: 0, 0%Jacoby Ellsbury: 0, 0%Andre Ethier: 0, 0%J.J. Hardy: 0, 0%Jhonny Peralta: 0, 0%Jered Weaver: 0, 0%Jayson Werth: 0, 0%
Speaking of third bases, next year, Adrián Beltré will be a candidate and must be elected.
Thanks to life that has given me so much, even a reader like you.
2023-07-22 11:11:59
#Rolen #deserve #Hall #Fame
