Jan 24, 2018
Guerrero highlights list of possible Hall of Fame inductees
In his second year on the ballot, former Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero appears headed towards hearing his name called among the players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. The Baseball writers will reveal their choices on Wednesday and the free-swinging power hitter is expected to be among the honoured.
TSN.ca Staff
In his second year on the ballot, former Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero appears headed towards hearing his name called among the honoured players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Ryan Thibodaux, a Baseball Hall of Fame ballot tracker who compiles information from any member of the Baseball Writers Association of America who makes their votes public, currently has Guerrero named on over 90 per cent of revealed ballots. Balloting will be officially revealed Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.
The 16-year veteran spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Expos, before playing six with the Angels and one each with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. In 2004, Guerrero hit 39 homers with 126 RBIs and a .337 batting average on his way to the American League MVP award.
Guerrero finished his career with 449 homers and 1496 RBIs. He ended with a career .318 average with a .379 on-base percentage, after his final MLB season in 2011.
Also known for having a cannon arm, Guerrero led the league in outfield assists twice and finished in the top five in five different seasons.
Based on the information Thibodaux has collected after more than half of the total ballots have been revealed, the Dominican Republic native will not be the only name called on Wednesday.
Former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has been named on almost all of the public ballots, and currently has the highest total of any player eligible to be inducted this year.
Jones spent all 19 seasons of his MLB career with the Braves and finished with 468 career homers and 1623 RBIs. His career batting average is .303 and his on base percentage is .401.
In 1999, he captured the National League MVP award with a 45 HR, 110 RBI, .319 AVG season.
Former Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies first-baseman and designated hitter Jim Thome is third on the list, also sitting above the 90 per cent mark.
Thome played for the Indians, Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles over his 22 MLB seasons and hit 612 homers, good enough for eighth on the all-time list.
The five-time all-star finished fourth in voting for the NL MVP award in 2003, powered by his league leading 47 homers.
Two other players are also currently sitting above the election threshold of 75 per cent: former Seattle Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez and former San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman.
While primarily known as a DH, Martinez appeared in 592 games in the field split between first and third base.
The lifetime Mariners player led the league in average twice (.343 in 1992 and .356 in 1995) and on-base percentage three times, (.479 in 1995, .429 in 1998 and .447 in 1999).
Hoffman, who appeared 902 times for the Padres, 105 times for the Brewers and 28 times for the Florida Marlins, is second all-time with 601 saves.
Both in their sixth year of eligibility, seven-time MVP, single-season and career home run king Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens both appear to be on the outside looking in, though both are tracking towards improved voter numbers for the fourth straight year.
Both players saw a dip in their voting numbers in the second year but have slowly rebounded and were named on more than half of the submitted ballots for the first time last year.
Canadian Larry Walker is on the Hall of Fame ballot for the eighth year but is going to need to see a major improvement in his voting numbers to be inducted before his 10 years of eligibility expires. After receiving 20.3 per cent in his first year, he fell all the way down to 10.2 per cent in year four. Last season, he appeared on 21.9 per cent of ballots and, according to Thibodaux, is tracking at just under 40 per cent.
The former Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder won the 1997 NL MVP award as well as seven Gold Gloves and three NL batting titles over the course of his 17-year career.
Former Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees starter Mike Mussina was also named on 20.3 per cent of ballots in his first year, but has seen his fortunes steadily improve all the way to 51.8 per cent last year.
Three players were inducted in 2017, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez following Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr, who was elected with a record 99.3 per cent total, in 2016.