Latinos on the Hall of Fame Ballot

Now that the uproar of this past Hall of Fame election has died down, I want to focus on the Latino ballplayers that are currently eligible for the Hall.

The last Latino to get enshrined into Cooperstown was Roberto Alomar in 2011 in his second year of eligibility with 90.0% of the vote. So who is the next one to be inducted.

Before I go into who is next allow me to elaborate in who can get elected to the Hall of Fame. To be eligible for induction, players must have spent 10 years in MLB and must be five years removed from their playing das. If a player receives less than 5 percent of the vote, he is no longer eligible. In addition, if a player appears on the ballot 15 times and does not reach the necessary 75% then he is no longer eligible for enshrinement. Now that I got the rules out of the way, here is who I think will be the next Latino(s) to get in the Hall of Fame.

I would have to say that the next one to get in is Pedro Martinez who will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in the year 2015 with Vladimir Guerrero and Ivan Rodriguez in 2017. Vlad just announced that he will be attempting to make a comeback this season. If he happens to play one game for a MLB team then his first year for eligibility would be pushed back. I feel these three players are all first ballot caliber players. Manny Ramirez is also eligible for induction in 2017 but with his two positive tests and suspensions for violation of the MLB Drug Policy who can really say if he ever gets in. Talk of positive tests and suspensions brings me to Rafael Palmiero.

Palmiero is a member of a rare club of one of four players to reach BOTH the 500 Home Run and 3000 hit plateaus. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray are the other three and are members of the Hall of Fame. I believe that Palmiero will not be joining them since I feel that this will be his last year on the ballot. Look at his showing in the last three years:

11.0% in 2011
12.6% in 2012
8.8% in 2013

He lost ground in a year that saw first year eligible candidates Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza and Craig Biggio not get elected. Take into consideration that next year's first ballot eligibles include Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Jeff Kent and Mike Mussina among others. Next year will prove to be the deepest Hall of Fame ballot ever and the voters can vote for up to 10 players. I really have a hard time seeing Palmiero getting more than 8% let alone the necessary 5% to stay on the ballot.

The other Latino who is still on the ballot after multiple years is Edgar Martinez. Martinez is considered by many as being the best Designated Hitter of all time. He has been much more consistent when it comes to his standing on the Hall of Fame ballot. In his first year Martinez received:

36.2% in 2010
32.9% in 2011
36.5% in 2012
35.9% in 2013

Given the fact that next year is a stacked ballot, Martinez might drop a bit in terms of percentage but is in good shape to recoup his losses and even move up closer to the necessary 75% within the next five to ten years.

Sammy Sosa received 12.5% in his first year and who can tell where he'll rank in the next few years. Bernie Williams received 3.2% of the vote this year and is no longer on the ballot.

So what do you gals and guys think. Agree? Disagree? Leave me a comment and let me know what your thoughts are.

FH

More Latino Milestones

Keeping with the theme of a few of the last posts, here are a few Latino milestones of note in MLB.

- Ivan Rodriguez Joins the 300 Homerun Club for Catchers

With his second homer of the season coming against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park, Ivan Rodriguez joined a select club. In registering his 300th career homerun as a catcher, Rodriguez joins Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra and future Hall of Famer Mike Piazza.

Rodriguez currently has a career .298 batting average with 2783 hits (563 2B 51 3B 307 HR) and 1294 RBI. Rodriguez has a career .802 OPS (.353 OBP% .468 SLG%). He has 1422 K's, 497 BB and 127 stolen bases. This doesn't even take into account that Rodriguez is one of the best defensive catchers of not only our generation but of all time.

During a current 20-year career, Rodriguez has caught 2358 games while playing a total of only 8 games at both 1st and 2nd bases. He is prolific at throwing runners out that try to steal on him by throwing out an amazing 46% of all runners (754 allowed 638 caught stealing). By comparison, Bench threw out 44% of runners (610 allowed 444 caught stealing), Fisk threw out 34% (1302 allowed 665 caught stealing) and Berra threw out 47% (428 allowed 384 caught stealing).

I believe that it is only a matter of time before Ivan Rodriguez joins his fellow 300 homerun club in Cooperstown.

- Alex Rodriguez Joins the 600 Homerun Club

Alex Rodriguez with his 1st inning homerun off of Shawn Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays became the 7th member of the 600 homerun club. In doing so, he became the youngest player to do so (at the age of 35) and is the second Latino to reach the milestone (Sammy Sosa 609) . Rodriguez joins the following players in the club:

Barry Bonds 762
Hank Aaron 755 (HOF)
Babe Ruth 714 (HOF)
Willie Mays 660 (HOF)
Ken Griffey Jr. 630
Sammy Sosa 609

Under normal circumstances A-Rod's achievement would be considered a free pass into Cooperstown but his admission to using performance enhancing drugs (PED's) during the 2001-2003 seasons puts his enshrinement in jeopardy. No doubt many baseball writers, who hold the power of enshrinement into Cooperstown with their vote, will vote to keep Rodriguez out. But I believe that a telling aspect to his career will be how current Hall of Famers see his accomplishment.

Hank Aaron, who some believe is still the Home Run King of MLB , had the following to say about Rodriguez's 600th homerun:

"When you reach that plateau, no matter where it is, whether you're playing in the Majors or the Minors, it's a tremendous accomplishment," Aaron said. "It means an awful lot to whoever reaches this achievement."

When asked about Rodriguez's achievement in the era of PED's, smaller parks and diluted pitching staffs due to expansion, Aaron had the following statements:

"It really doesn't matter what kind of asterisk you put by it -- 600 homers is something special," Aaron said. "It's been so long since I reached that mark, I really don't remember how I felt. But I'm sure I was excited, probably even more than Alex because there weren't as many people who had done it before."

Others were not as positive towards Rodriguez as Aaron is. Here are a few more comments from Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith, and Gary Carter:

Sandberg: "That's a lot of home runs," Ryne Sandberg said. "It's really something for anybody who does that. It's a small group. And he joins that group. But that's all I've got to say about it."

Smith: "Basically, there will always be questions, always be doubts, whether the home runs were legitimate," Ozzie Smith said. "That's it in a nutshell. He came up in an era when everyone used. So it's very questionable."

Carter: "I think it's great, but obviously, he'll always have hanging over his head the allegations about the drugs he took," Gary Carter said. "In any event, he's one of those kids who had the tag of 'superstar' on him when he was drafted, and he became a superstar. So he'll always be recognized as a great player. But 600, that's an incredible milestone. Not too many players have gotten there. And if he stays healthy, there's a chance he might one day be the all-time home run guy. We'll see."

Time will tell how Alex Rodriguez is seen five years from the time he takes his last at-bat. Being under contract to the New York Yankees until 2017 that puts him eligible for the Hall of Fame in the year 2022. Who knows how the steroid era will be seen by then. Like I said, only time will tell.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for Mark Bowman's article named Aaron Impressed by A-Rod's Milestone from MLB.com
- Click Here for Barry M. Bloom's article named Hall of Famers Weigh in on A-Rod from MLB.com
- Click Here for an Interactive Timeline Amanda Cox and Kevin Quealy on the seven members of the 600-Homerun club from The New York Times.com

Jorge Posada Reaches Milestones Part II

As I posted on June 15, 2010 Jorge Posada had joined an exclusive club among catchers. With his two-homerun day during the inter-league series with the Houston Astros, Posada joined Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Gary Carter and Carlton Fisk and future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez as the only catchers in MLB history to hit 250 home runs, 1,500 hits and 350 doubles over the course of their career. It is time to add another statistic to that feat.

On July 23rd against the Kansas City Royals, Posada ripped an RBI double down the line. That RBI was the 1,000th RBI for Posada's career. Once again, this places Posada with Bench, Carter, Fisk and Rodriguez as the only catchers who have 250 home runs, 1,500 hits, 350 doubles and 1,000 runs batted in over the course of their career. In addition, Posada became only the 12th New York Yankees player to reach the 1,000 RBI plateau. Posada is further cementing his case for Hall of Fame enshrinement once he decides to hang up his chest protector and mask.

Felicidades Jorge. Keep it up.
FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for Tim Britton's article on MLB.com about Posada reaching 1,000 RBI
- Click Here for my June 15, 2010 post about Posada joining Bench, Carter, Fisk and Rodriguez in the 250 HR, 1500 Hits and 350 2B Club