Scott Rolen played nearly 18,000 turns on the field during his 17-season career, and each of those turns was spent in third-basement. A star quarterback, best known for his glove and range as well as his powerful bat, Rolen was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday as the results of the annual vote of… published writers.
Rolen, in his sixth year of qualifying, was on 297 out of 389 votes, giving him 76.3% in an election where 75% was required to be inducted.
Todd Helton, the Colorado Rockies’ longtime first-team hitter, is second with 72.2% and Billy Wagner, a closer star for several clubs, is third with 68.1%.
Carlos Beltrán, a Mets and Yankees quarterback who stood out among this year’s first-time finalists, was named on 46.5% of the vote. The result was a bit disappointing for the former all-star and it was probably influenced by his relationship with Houston Astros sign theft scandal.
In the wake of Tuesday’s election, Rolen will join Fred McGriff, a powerful first horseman from the Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves and four other teams, at the Hall’s annual intro ceremony in Cooperstown, NY, this summer. McGriff, who fell off the writers’ ballot after his 10th attempt in 2019, is unified choice by the Hall’s Contemporary Baseball Committee, which looked at cases of players not winning the right to vote by writers.
For Rolen, the election comes after his vote total has steadily increased over the years. He was named on only 10.2 percent of the vote in 2018, the first year he was eligible, but that percentage grows each year. Last year, he won 63.2% and won this year when he received 48 more votes than last year’s total.
Having spent almost his entire career with the National League, Rolen is the third player in the most sense. He has never appeared in any other position, and he has never played a game in the designated hitter, with his only appearance being as the batter. third or hitter. Defensive commitment was assured as Rolen ended his career with eight Golden Glove awards and 21.2 defensive wins over his substitute, according to the Baseball Reference formula.
Rolen is also a star with his stick, scoring 0.281 in his career with 316 home runs and 1,287 RBI. He helped the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series championship in 2006 by hitting 0.421 in a five-game series against Detroit Multiple Tigers.
While Helton had certainly hoped to join Rolen and McGriff on stage in Cooperstown, his disappointment on Tuesday could be eased by the jump he won in votes. The rare star to spend his entire career on one team, Helton hit 0.3724 in 2000 – the fifth-highest one-season batting average since 1960 – and helped lead his team to the Championship. world champion 2007. However, some have questioned the huge gap between his home number at Coors Field and what he can do on the road. He received 16.5% of the vote in 2019, the first year he qualified, and worked up to 52% last year. With 76 more votes this year, he’s gone from being a dominant candidate to one expected to win in the years to come.
Wagner, a top player for the Houston Astros, Mets and three other teams, has also come pretty close this year and could eventually become the ninth-elected painkiller for Cooperstown. With 422 saves and a career ERA of 2.31, Wagner has been a consistently dominant force but faces the same obstacles as other breakers who face the mentality that Their role is not valid as a top starting pitcher.
For Beltrán, who at his peak was one of the players with the best combination of strength, speed and defence, not being elected this year does not affect his future prospects. that. The sign-stealing scandal will drag on for years to come, but he has less basis to make up for than players with strong steroid connections, such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire, each received 40 percent fewer votes the first year they were eligible.
Likewise, holding candidates with a longstanding association with performance-enhancing drugs continue to struggle in this year’s vote. Alex Rodriguez, who leads all finalists with 117.6 career wins over his substitute and three-time AL Player of the Year Award, is named just over 35 .7% of the votes. Manny Ramirez, 12-time All-Star hit 555 home runs, getting 33.2%.
Things won’t get any easier for next year’s finalists, as the ballot will add a group of candidates to be honored for the first time including Adrián Beltré, Joe Mauer, Chase Utley and David Wright.
