Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez were all elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Jeff, Tim, and Pudge on this incredible achievement. The typical major-league player faces 70-to-1 odds of making it into the Hall of Fame. Only the best of the best make it, and those three guys were exceptional at the sport of baseball.
Getting elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame is no easy task. Only a handful of players are selected to the ballot and from there only a handful get elected. In order to become eligible, players must have played at least 10 years in the league and be retired for more than 5 years. Those requirements are sometimes waived for special cases, such as the sudden death of Pirate legend Roberto Clemente in 1972. A six-member screening committee prepares the annual ballot, and selected players remain eligible for 10 years, unless they receive less than 5% of the vote. Players must receive votes from 75% or more of the BBWAA to get elected in. The threshold for entry is 75%.
Tim Raines was elected in his 10th and final year of eligibility. He received votes from 86% of the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America). During his 23-year career Raines played in 2,502 games, accumulating 2,605 hits in his 8,872 at bats for a .294 career batting average along with 170 home runs, 980 runs batted in, a .385 on-base percentage and a .425 slugging percentage.
Jeff Bagwell earned 86.2% of the votes and made it on his 7th attempt. Bagwell was drafted by the Red Sox in the 1989 amateur draft and was traded to the Astros in 1990. He spent his entire 15-year major league career in Houston. Bagwell won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1991. Bagwell then went on to win the National League MVP in 1994. He was a four-time MLB All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger winner and a Gold Glove recipient. In his 15-year career, Bagwell had a batting average of .297 to go along with 2,314 hits, 449 home runs and 1,529 runs batted in. He is the only first baseman to achieve the 30-30 (30 home runs and steals in a season) club more than once. His 79.6 career WAR (Wins Above Replacement) per Baseball-Reference.com ranks him sixth all-time among first baseman. In 1994 Bagwell became the 4th unanimous NL MVP in history, setting the record for fewest plate appearances to reach both 100 runs scored and 100 runs batted in. During the 1994 season he also produced a .750 slugging percentage (the highest in the National League since 1925) while batting a career-high .368.
Last, but certainly not least, is my favorite player out of the elected players. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez was one of the greatest catchers to play the game and one of my favorite players growing up. Pudge was voted in on his first year of eligibility and just squeaked by with 75% of the votes. Rodriguez was awarded the American League MVP award in 1999. He then went on to win a World Series with the Marlins in 2003. Rodriguez was one of the best defensive catchers to play baseball. He is the major league career leader in putouts by catchers. Back in 2009 Rodriguez set an MLB record by catching his 2,227th game, passing Carlton Fisk. Rodriguez has the best caught steeling percentage of any major league catcher, at 45.68%. Pudge batted better than .290 with more than 2,500 hits, 550 doubles, 300 home runs and 1,300 RBI, an accomplishment equaled only by four all-time greats: Hank Aaron, George Brett, Babe Ruth, and Barry Bonds.
All three members of the 2017 Hall of Fame class are undoubtedly worthy of being selected. Each having tremendous careers and accomplishing many great feats. These three will be inducted on Sunday, July 30th at 1:30 p.m. ET. Congratulations to Ivan, Jeff, and Tim on the Hall of Fame!
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