The 2018 MLB Hall of Fame Selections

Winter is the time of year when Baseball writers vote on which players to induct into the MLB Hall of Fame. The MLB Hall of Fame selections were announced on January 24th. The players that were voted in are Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones, and Jim Thome. There many good players that are eligible, but the baseball writers can only pick up to 10 players and the players must get selected by at least 75 percent of writers. The four players selected this year were great players and it is important to look at what made them Hall of Fame worthy. It is also interesting to look ahead to next year at who may get in next year.

Vladimir Guerrero

According to Castrovince (2018), Vladimir Guerrero was an Outfielder who played 16 years in the MLB and he received 92.9 percent of the vote. Guerrero played eight seasons with the Montréal Expos, six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, one season with the Texas Rangers, and one season with the Baltimore Orioles (Castrovince, 2018). He had many great statistics throughout his career with 2,590 hits (H), 449 home runs (HR), 1,496 runs-batted-in (RBIs), 985 strikeouts (SO), a .318 batting average (BA), and a .553 slugging percentage (SLG) in 2,147 games (Baseball Reference). He had good fielding stats among right fielders (RF) with 3,165 put-outs (PO), 126 assists (A), 125 errors (E), a .963 fielding percentage (fld%) in 1,605 games (Baseball Reference). To put these stats into perspective he is ranked 25th in SLG, 40th in HR, 57th in RBIs, 19th in PO among RF, 28th in A among RF, and the 5th least amount of E among RF all-time (Baseball Reference). He also had some awards with 1 MVP, 9 All-Star selections, and 8 Silver Slugger awards (Baseball Reference). This is an impressive resume with great batting numbers and good fielding numbers that put him into the list of all-time great players.

Trevor Hoffman

Castrovince (2018) states Trevor Hoffman was a Closer for 18 years and he received 79.9 percent of the vote. According to Baseball Reference he played 16 seasons for the San Diego Padres, two seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers, and one for the Florida Marlin. He has many impressive stats as a Closer and can be considered as one of the best relievers of all-time. His career totals are a 2.87 earned run average (ERA), 601 saves, 1.058 walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP), 1,133 strikeouts, and 307 walks in 1089.1 innings pitched (Baseball Reference). He is ranked second in saves, ninth in WHIP, first among relievers in hits per nine innings, and tied for first in seasons with 40-plus save (Castrovince, 2018). He also had several awards with 7 All-Star selections (Baseball Reference). He built up many great pitching stats throughout his career that are ranked high among relievers. This makes him one of the best relievers and closers who is worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Chipper Jones

Chipper Jones had a consistent career throughout his 19 years all with the Atlanta Braves and he is a first ballot Hall of Famer receiving 97.2 percent of the vote (Castrovince, 2018). It is impressive that he was consistently good for the same team throughout his career, which is extremely rare in modern baseball. His batting career totals are 2,726 H, 468 HR, 1,623 RBIs, a .303 BA, a .526 SLG, 1,512 BB, a .401 on base percentage (OBP) in 2,499 games (Baseball Reference). He was good defensively for a third baseman with 1,159 put-outs (PO), 3,447 assists (A), only 223 errors (E), a .954 fielding percentage (fld%) in 1,992 games (Baseball Reference). To put some of these stats into perspective he is ranked 51th in SLG, 54th in OBP, 33th in HR, 34h in RBIs, 16th in BB, and 26th in assists among third basemen all-time (Baseball Reference). These stats show his career totals rank high among all-time great players, which means he can be considered an all-time great player. He also had some awards with 1 MVP, 8 All-Star selections, and 2 Silver Slugger awards (Baseball Reference). Chipper Jones was a durable player who put up consistent numbers throughout his career and those two factors are what makes him a Hall of Famer.

Jim Thome

Jim Thome was a great power hitter who played 22 years and he received 89.8 percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility (Castrovince, 2018). He played 13 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, four seasons for the Chicago White Sox, two years with the Minnesota Twins, one season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and one season for the Baltimore Orioles (Baseball Almanac). He played for many team throughout his career, but he played the most seasons for Cleveland. His career totals are impressive with 2,328 H, 612 HR, 1,699 RBIs, 1,747 BB, a .554 SLG, and a .402 OBP in 2,543 games (Baseball Reference). He had some good fielding stats for a first baseman with 9,165 PO, 709 A, only 64 E, a .994 fld% in 1,106 games (Baseball Reference). To put these stats into perspective he is ranked 23th in SLG, 8th in HR, 26th in RBIs, and 7th in BB, all-time (Baseball Reference). He had some awards with five All-Star selections and one Silver Slugger awards (Baseball Reference). He is among some of the best power hitters of all-time, which is why he is now in the Hall of Fame.

A Look Ahead to 2019

There are new Hall of Fame selections every year and it is interesting to look at who could possibly be selected in 2019. Two players that came close this year but could be selected next year are Edgar Martinez with 70.4 percent and Mike Mussina with 63.5 percent (Castrovince, 2018). Edgar Martinez played 18 years with notable stats including 2,247 H, .312 BA, 309 HR, 1,261 RBIs, .418 OBP, .515 SLG, and 1,403 games played at the designated hitter (DH) position (Baseball Reference). Some of his stats may not seem impressive but his batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage are impressive. To many people, he is considered one of the best pure DHs of all-time. Mike Mussina played 18 years with some notable stats including 270 wins, 3.68 ERA, 3562.2 IP, and 2,813 SO (Baseball Reference).

His ERA is a little high but what makes him potentially Hall of Fame worthy is his high number of wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts. Two new players that are the most likely to be selected to the Hall of Fame is Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay. Mariano Rivera played for 19 years where he finished with 652 saves and a 2.21 ERA (Baseball Reference). These two numbers put him above Trevor Hoffman, which means he is the best Closer of all-time and worthy of the Hall of Fame. Roy Halladay played 16 years with 203 wins, 3.38 ERA, 2,117 SO, and 2729 IP (Baseball Reference). He was one of the most consistent and durable pitchers during the time he played while also being dominant. Unfortunately, he will not be able to enjoy his possible selection because he is deceased due to a tragic airplane accident.

References

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/11/20/baseball-hall-fame-ballot-2018/

Castrovince, A. (2018, Jan. 24). Chipper, Vlad, Thome, Hoffman Elected to Hall. Retrieved from https://www.mlb.com/news/chipper-vlad-hoffman-thome-in-hall-of-fame/c-265262266

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