What Does Rolen's Election Say About The Hall Of Fame?
In today's issue, one IBWAA member looks at Scott Rolen's election to the Baseball Hall of Fame and what it means for the legitimacy of the voting body and process.
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . Scott Rolen was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his sixth year on the ballot, having received only 10.2 percent of the vote back in 2018 in his first year of HOF eligibility. Let’s take a look at how some of his fellow HOF candidates fared on this year’s ballot.
The only two other candidates to receive over 60 percent of the vote were Todd Helton (72.2 percent, fifth year on ballot) and Billy Wagner (68.1 percent, eighth year on ballot).
The only players on their first Hall of Fame ballot to pass the five percent threshold and stay on the HOF ballot for next year were Carlos Beltrán (46.5 percent) and Francisco Rodriguez (10.8 percent).
Of the other players debuting on this year’s ballot, five of them received exactly one vote: Bronson Arroyo, R.A. Dickey, John Lackey, Mike Napoli, and Huston Street.
Jeff Kent received only 46.5 percent of the vote in his 10th and final year on the ballot, so he will no longer be on future BBWAA ballots. His only chance at Hall of Fame election will be by a future Era Committee.
. . . Rolen is now the 18th third baseman in the Baseball Hall of Fame and only the ninth third baseman elected to the Hall by the BBWAA. He and Chipper Jones are the only third basemen who made their MLB debuts within the last 40 years to be in the Hall of Fame.
Leading Off
Rolen And The Broken Hall Of Fame
By David Blumberg
Scott Rolen was announced Tuesday as the only member of the 2023 Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame class, garnering 76.3 percent of the vote and getting into the Hall by just five votes.
Rolen posted a 122 OPS+ and won eight Gold Gloves at third base over his 17-year career, so he’s certainly a worthy inclusion. Seeing as he also works for my alma mater of Indiana University, I might be slightly biased, but his candidacy had become a popular one amongst statheads in recent years.
Seeing Rolen just barely get in and lifetime Rockies slugger Todd Helton miss out, though, shows the brokenness of this process.
Criticisms of the Hall of Fame are nothing new. The institution has been under fire since its inception and that drumbeat has only gotten louder in the wake of the steroid era, as writers have been quick to moralize and grandstand.
However you feel about the steroid era of baseball, it’s hard to argue that Hall of Fame voters have done their jobs in a satisfactory manner. From insipid arguments defending empty ballots to grandiose ethical judgements, it’s been hard to nod in agreement with the BBWAA and its process over the last 20 or so years.
Some with votes have pointed out that the criteria to have a vote itself can be flawed. We know there are examples of voters who stopped covering baseball a while ago continuing to have a ballot.
Even worse is that voters can vote for up to 10 candidates, but many choose not to use the full power of the ballot anyways. The requirements are too loose, which leads to the outlandish protest ballots we seem to get every year.
I don’t know where we go from here, but it’s clear this process needs reform. It may not matter to everyone, but it does matter to these players and that should be honored in this process and in attempts to reform it.
David Blumberg is a long-suffering Cubs fan. You can find his baseball opinions on Twitter and other musings on Medium at DGBlog. Follow him on Twitter @DGBlumberg.
Extra Innings: MLB Network Coverage Of Rolen’s HOF Election
And watch Rolen react to his Hall of Fame election below: