OC Register: Angels’ Vladimir Guerrero, Padres’ Trevor Hoffman among 4 elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

[AngelsWin.com]

This time, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman got the call they wanted.

Guerrero and Hoffman, a pair of players with Southern California ties who narrowly missed baseball’s ultimate honor last year, were among four players elected to the Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Guerrero and Hoffman joined Chipper Jones and Jim Thome to form a four-man class, equaling the most players elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in a single year since the inaugural class of five in 1936. It marked the fourth time the BBWAA has elected four.

Including Jack Morris and Alan Trammell, who were selected by the Hall’s Modern Baseball Era Committee in December, there will be six former players inducted in Cooperstown in July.

Guerrero, who won an MVP award and helped the Angels to five playoff berths in his six years in Anaheim, and Hoffman, an Orange County native who recorded most of his 601 saves with the Padres, both took the next step after barely missing election in 2017.

Guerrero earned 92.9 percent of the votes and Hoffman got 79.9 percent, clearing the 75 percent threshold they each missed in 2017. Last year Hoffman got 74.0 percent and Guerrero got 71.1.

Guerrero has a chance to be the first player who goes into the Hall of Fame representing the Angels on his plaque. The other option would be the Montreal Expos, Guerrero’s team for his first eight seasons.

The Hall of Fame curators have the final say of which team a player represents, but the player’s preference carries significant weight. Guerrero, who has been asked repeatedly about it over the past couple years, has been noncommital. The Hall’s decision could be revealed as soon as the Hall of Fame press conference on Thursday in New York.

The Angels, who inducted Guerrero’s into the team’s Hall of Fame last summer, have certainly embraced him. He won the MVP in 2004, his first  year with the Angels, hitting .337 with 39 homers and 126 RBIs. He hit .319 with 173 homers in his Angels’ career.

Guerrero’s .927 OPS with the Angels is second only to Mike Trout (.976) among players with 2,000 plate appearances with the club.

Hoffman, a product of Anaheim’s Savannah High and Cypress College, is perhaps second only to Tony Gwynn among the all-time Padres greats.

Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds as a shortstop, Hoffman was moved to the mound in the minors. He developed a changeup that led to him becoming a dominant closer, notching the second most saves in baseball history. He was traded twice before pitching 16 years with the Padres.

While Hoffman squeezed just over the line for election, Edgar Martinez came up just short, earning 70.4 percent of the vote. Next year is the last of Martinez’s 10 years on the BBWAA ballot.

Roger Clemens (57.3) and Barry Bonds (56.4) did not make much progress from last year, when they were at 54.1 and 53.8, respectively. Their lack of an increase brings into question whether either of the steroid-tainted stars will be elected by the writers. They have each have four years left.

More to come on this story.

View the full article

[Tank]

congrats to all four. well deserved.

still trying to figure out why vlad is a HOFer this year but wasn't last year. writers can be real clowns sometimes.

[Angel Oracle]

Edgar Martinez will have a close call in 2019, one way or another.

Congrats to Vlad, Hells Bells, Jim Thome, and Chipper Jones!

[Dave Saltzer]

Martínez deserves to be in the HoF and should be the first primary DH to do so. There is little doubt that he was one of the premier hitters in his generation, which to me makes him worthy. 

[Jeff Fletcher]

3 hours ago, Tank said:

congrats to all four. well deserved.

still trying to figure out why vlad is a HOFer this year but wasn't last year. writers can be real clowns sometimes.

I asked a bunch of the writers who added him and they said he didn’t fit on their ballots last year. They would have voted for him if not for the limit of 10.

[Tank]

2 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I asked a bunch of the writers who added him and they said he didn’t fit on their ballots last year. They would have voted for him if not for the limit of 10.

thanks.

what's your opinion of voters who say things like "he's not a first ballot hall of famer."

[disarcina]

Is this where I can include a pitch to see Omar Vizquel's number track upward next year?

He got about 37 percent of the vote this year -- not bad but not great for a first time ballot.

I think if folks take a look at his career stats, he merits HOF consideration -- he wound up with close to 2,800 hits. But, really, it's not his offense that gets him IN, it's his DEFENSE -- consider that in era of some pretty good AL SS's -- (Nomar, Jeter etc.) Omar Vizquel was pretty much the consensus best defensive SS of them all.

I think he ranks right up there with, perhaps, the best defensive SS of all time -- OZZIE SMITH.

You have to consider the number of runs Vizquel prevented from scoring.

anyway, I think Vizquel deserves HOF consideration-- of course, in two years, Jeter will be a no doubter -- all ballots naming him first ballet guy -- ME?  I'd select Vizquel in his prime over Jeter in his prime playing SS for my team EVERY TIME.

[disarcina]

first ballot guy -- Vizquel and Smith were the ballet guys at SS..........

[Dtwncbad]

11 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I asked a bunch of the writers who added him and they said he didn’t fit on their ballots last year. They would have voted for him if not for the limit of 10.

I would love to see their list of ten players more worthy than Vlad last year, where he "didn't fit."

[Jeff Fletcher]

10 hours ago, Tank said:

thanks.

what's your opinion of voters who say things like "he's not a first ballot hall of famer."

I know a lot of fans like to say that writers say that, and maybe at one point some did, but I can't currently think of any writer who has said he ever intentionally withheld a vote from someone in his first year on the ballot, planning to vote him on the second year.

[Jeff Fletcher]

57 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

I would love to see their list of ten players more worthy than Vlad last year, where he "didn't fit."

Some of them chose to give the last spot to other candidates they felt needed the vote to stay above 5 percent (which I wouldn't do).

You can look at the HOF tracker (bbhoftracker.com) and see many of the writers who added him this year, as well as who they voted for last year.

As I did my ballot, I had Vlad ranked 9th.

[Jeff Fletcher]

9 hours ago, disarcina said:

I think he ranks right up there with, perhaps, the best defensive SS of all time -- OZZIE SMITH.

Defensive metrics -- old and new -- disagree with you.

And I covered Vizquel for three years and loved watching him. I think he was an amazing shortstop. But I didn't see Ozzie Smith in his prime (not regularly, anyway), so I can't compare.

I think Vizquel is borderline. I could see myself voting for him at some point, but there are still too many guys I'd place ahead of him on the ballot.

[red321]

I'm torn on Martinez...while I agree he should be in the Hall...it's always fun to see Mariner fans screwed with

[Dtwncbad]

48 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Some of them chose to give the last spot to other candidates they felt needed the vote to stay above 5 percent (which I wouldn't do).

You can look at the HOF tracker (bbhoftracker.com) and see many of the writers who added him this year, as well as who they voted for last year.

As I did my ballot, I had Vlad ranked 9th.

And so a possible result is a guy who will likely never make it gets to stay on the ballot hovering at 5% another year, while another guy misses making it on the first ballot.  I think that is really lame, especially when the media certainly DOES emphasize the extra elite status of being a "first ballot" HOFer.

[Jeff Fletcher]

3 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

And so a possible result is a guy who will likely never make it gets to stay on the ballot hovering at 5% another year, while another guy misses making it on the first ballot.  I think that is really lame, especially when the media certainly DOES emphasize the extra elite status of being a "first ballot" HOFer.

Describing someone as a first ballot HOFer is different than manipulating your vote to prevent someone from being a first-ballot HOFer.

[Tank]

2 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I know a lot of fans like to say that writers say that, and maybe at one point some did, but I can't currently think of any writer who has said he ever intentionally withheld a vote from someone in his first year on the ballot, planning to vote him on the second year.

i can't recall it happening in recent years, but i remember some writers saying deliberately that in their view, very, very few players deserved to be voted in in their first year of eligibility. in fact, and i could be wrong on this, i think there was some crusty old fart in philadelphia who proudly proclaimed things like that year after year. it was awhile ago - maybe in the 70s and 80s - and i don't know his name, but he just looked like a clown for saying stuff like that. 

from where i sit, it's hard to understand that no single player has had 100% from the writers yet.

[disarcina]

well, as for manipulation of votes to achieve certain results for certain players i.e. (make him a first ballot guy, deny him first ballot status, keep him above the 5% cut off etc.) I was interested this year in Trevor Hoffman's election to the HOF.

There was some talk/ thinking that Hoffman might not get certain East Coast votes (read New York) in order to assure that SLAM DUNK first ballot HOF'er coming up soon - MARIANO RIVERA - made it in as a closer before Hoffman did..........

[disarcina]

I guess I should hold off on my YADIER MOLINA for HOF posts........he's got three more years on his contract -- indicated he's retiring after that.

catchers -- and quality defensive catchers -- really under-represented in the HOF.

of course, one of my arguments for catchers that I think belong in - is this :  "Well, they let Gary Carter IN"

[Angel Oracle]

5 hours ago, red321 said:

I'm torn on Martinez...while I agree he should be in the Hall...it's always fun to see Mariner fans screwed with

Dipussy is doing a pretty good job of that all by himself.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

Fun Fact: didn't want to start a new thread for this as I found this by accident and thought it interesting.

Lou Gehrig was voted into the HOF in a special election the same year he retired. He was also the first player to ever have his number (4) retired.