Marc Narducci covered all sports for The Philadelphia Inquirer for 37 years before retiring in July 2021. Everything that goes into winning a Super Bowl. A lifelong resident of southern New Jersey, he remains a freelance writer and broadcaster. Mark once again reached out to MLB Trade Rumors regarding his interest in releasing his Hall of Fame ballot. I’m excited to do this and hope it becomes an interesting topic of debate for our readers. This is Mark…
It’s always an honor to be published by MLBTradeRumors.com, one of the most respected baseball publications. For those of you who haven’t read the previous years, just do a few chores. I don’t vote for people who have anything to do with steroids, that means Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirezdo not receive my vote.
I didn’t vote either Carlos Beltran There’s no denying that he was the mastermind behind the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, which changed the way people view the World Series-winning team. These actions cost him his position as manager and currently cost him this vote. I don’t think all Astros deserved to be punished, but as said before, that’s a story for another day.
I never criticize the way voters vote. That doesn’t mean our votes won’t be criticized, including mine. Each voter must do what he or she thinks is best.
Now, here are this year’s ballots, which include five names.
something to keep
I voted for Remain three times last year and again this year.
Chase Utley
There’s no question that injuries slowed Utley’s career, and many thought he didn’t have enough statistical numbers to make the All-Star team, but he was a six-time All-Star with only four HOF second basemen with a home run ratio of Utley’s 259 home runs were even higher. rogers hornsby (301), Craig Biggio (291), Rye Sandberg (282) and Joe Morgan (268). I’m a sucker for second basemen who show great power, that’s why I voted for Jeff Kent (377 career home runs) when he was on the ballot. Furthermore, we tend to focus on excellence, even if it is short-term. As mentioned last year, Utley had a slash line of .301/.388/535 from 2005 to 2009, and he averaged 29.2 home runs and 110 runs per game. 101.4 RBI, 151 games and 675 plate appearances. His BWAR during that time was 7.7. Only nine HOF second basemen have a higher career B-WAR than Utley (64.5).
Utley won the World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008 and tied an MLB-record with five home runs the following year against the Yankees in the 2009 World Series. record. reggie jackson 1977 and George Springer 2017. Utley also won four Silver Slugger Awards. Is that enough? Last year, in his first season on the ballot, Utley received 28.8% of the vote, so he still has a long way to go.
Billy Wagner
This is Wagner’s tenth and final season on the ballot. Last year he received 73.8% of the vote, missing out by five votes. Those who don’t consider Wagner a HOF player will point to his lower plate appearances and World Series statistics. Both are valid.
Wagner only pitched 903 innings. Although he only logged 11 1/3 innings in 14 games, his postseason performance was poor to say the least. His ERA was 10.03.
The reason to vote for Wagner is because of his stellar performance. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, his career WHIP of 0.998 was the lowest among retired relievers with at least 700 innings pitched, while his 2.31 career ERA was the lowest among retired left-handers with at least 500 innings pitched. The lowest of times. His ERA of +187 ranks second all-time behind Mariano Rivera.
HOF expert Jay Jaffe said Wagner’s 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings (minimum 900 innings pitched) is the best in MLB history. There are others ahead of him now, but they have less than 900 innings pitched.
Wagner finished with 422 saves, which ranked second among left-handed relievers and eighth overall. According to MLB.com, he had 422 saves (.887) in 476 save opportunities.
He was a seven-time All-Star and played in the playoffs seven times.
David Wright
Wright falls into the Utley category with no statistics due to injury. This is his second year running in the election. Last year he only got 6.2% of the vote. Still, Wright has been a dominant force when healthy. Wright was a seven-time All-Star in nine years from 2005 to 2013. During that span, he had a slash line of .302/384/.505 and an OPS+ of 138. He averaged 23 home runs, 90 runs and 93 RBI while also winning two Gold Glove Awards and two Silver Slugger Awards. Wright finished in the top 10 in MVP voting four times. During that nine-year period, he was not only one of the best players at his position, but one of the best players in baseball.
According to Baseball HOF, Wright is one of four third basemen in our history (along with Hall of Famers) George Brett, chipper jones and Mike Schmidt) retired with at least 350 doubles, 200 home runs and 150 stolen bases. He finished with 390 doubles, 242 home runs and 196 stolen bases.
He has a career batting average of .296/376/.491 and an OPS+ of 133. Only seven HOF third basemen had a higher OPS+ than Wright. Due to injuries, he never became a full-time player after turning 31.
Newcomer
CC Sabathia
This is a player that is sure to stir up some debate. One of his biggest selling points is his career wins (251) and winning percentage (.609) in an era where winning isn’t valued as much as it once was. He is tied for 47th in career wins.
Some will hold his 3.74 ERA against Sabathia, which is fair. His career ERA+ is 116, solid but unspectacular.
On the plus side, he was the ace for the three teams he played for (Cleveland, Milwaukee and the New York Yankees) and led all three teams to the playoffs. (Later in his career, he wasn’t the Yankees’ best pitcher, but his first five years in New York, he was an ace).
The southpaw was a six-time All-Star in 2007 Cy Young Awarded with Cleveland. He finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting four other times. He was a workhorse, making 30 or more starts 12 times. Sabathia helped the Yankees win the 2009 World Series in his first year with the Yankees. That year, he was named ALCS MVP after going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in two games against the Los Angeles Angels. He spent 10 of his 19 seasons with playoff teams and compiled a 10-7 career record with a 4.28 ERA in 26 postseason games. Sabathia is one of three left-handers with at least 3,000 strikeouts. His 3,093 strikeouts rank 18th all-time.
Ichiro Suzuki
Just as Adrian Beltre was selected in the first round last year, so too is Ichiro this year. He is eligible to be a unanimous selection. The best statistic may be that Ichiro had 200 or more hits in each of his first 10 seasons with Seattle and won a Gold Glove. In 2001, he became the second player to win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in the same season. What’s even more impressive is that he didn’t make his MLB debut until he was 27 years old. He had 1,278 hits while playing in Japan before joining the Seattle Mariners. He had 3,089 hits in his MLB career and had a .311/.355/.402 slash line. Ichiro hit .350 in 2001 and .372 in 2004, winning the at-bat twice. All in his first 10 seasons. In 86 postseason appearances, he hit .346/.400/.436. Ichiro primarily played as a right fielder, playing 1,970 career games as a right fielder, 322 games as a center fielder, and 117 games as a left fielder. His endurance is also very strong, playing more than 150 games 13 times and more than 160 games 9 times.
