Did the Voters Get it Right?
Three players—Joe Mauer, Todd Helton, Adrián Beltré—and one former manager, Jim Leyland, were just elected to the MLB Hall of Fame. Each had long and distinguished careers.
What’s interesting about the Hall of Fame is that there are no real “requirements,” at least as far as statistics, records, pennants or World Series banners a player or manager must claim. They are chosen for the Hall in a regular election, other by committee.
So here’s some fun and interesting trivia about this year’s group of Hall of Fame electees and the Hall of Fame in general.
Q. How many managers are now in the Hall? Who were the last four to get in?
A. According to CBS Sports, Jim Leyland becomes the 24th manager elected to the Hall of Fame. The previous three inductees include Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre. Leyland won the World Series in 1997 with the Miami Marlins, as well as three Manager of the Year awards. Many people think there should be more managers in the Hall, and that a few not in yet, such as Lou Piniella and Cito Gaston, are clear oversights.
Q. What special group of Hall of Fame players do Beltré and Mauer join?
A. They were elected the first time their name appeared on the ballot.They join 60 other Hall members who made it in on the first ballot.
Trivia Question:
Do you know the previous six players (since 2016) who made it into the Hall on the first ballot? They are certainly big-name players:
1. David Ortiz 2020
2. Derek Jeter 2020
3. Mariano Rivera 2019
4. Roy Halladay 2019
5. Chipper Jones 2018
6. Jim Thome 2018
FYI, Helton was in his sixth year of eligibility.
Q. What special group of Hall of Fame players do Mauer and Helton belong to?
A. They join other Hall of Famers who played for only one team their entire MLB career. Mauer played 15 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, while Helton was with the Colorado Rockies for 17 years.
Interesting fact: Fair or not, many detractors point out that Helton played all his home games in the very-thin-air hitter-friendly Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, which they claim unfairly inflated his numbers.
The two new inductees join a total of 56 other Hall of Fame members who played for just one team. While you might think most or all of the players were “old-timers” from a hundred years ago, quite a few players are from the modern era:
- Derek Jeter
- Kirby Puckett
- George Brett
- Tony Gwynn
- Cal Ripken Jr.
- Edgar Martínez
- Chipper Jones
- Jeff Bagwell
- Craig Biggio
- Willie Stargell
- Joe DiMaggio
- Mickey Mantle
- Sandy Koufax
- Bob Feller
Q. How many seasons combined did Beltré, Helton and Mauer play?
A. Their careers add up to 53 seasons.
- Beltré played 21, ending with a career .286 average
- Helton ended his 17-year career with a lifetime average of .317, and batted .372 one season
- Mauer also ended his 15-year career with a lifetime career over .300 (.306)
Q. How many combined World Series championships did Beltré, Helton and Mauer have?
A. None has a World Series ring. In fact, there are just two World Series appearances among them:
- Beltré, when the Texas Rangers lost to St. Louis in 2011
- Helton, when the Rockies were swept by the Red Sox in 2007
Q. Which player was the exception to the five-years-retired rule before being elected to the Hall?
A. In March 1973, a special election put Roberto Clemente in the Hall of Fame. He had died in a tragic plane crash just a few months earlier. The revised eligibility rules of 1954 said players must wait five years after retirement to become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration.
Q. Which teams do not have a player in the Hall of Fame?
A. Three current teams cannot claim a Hall of Fame member (can you guess which teams they are?): Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals. As you might guess, the Yankees have the most players in the Hall of Fame.
Some lists have the Arizona Diamondbacks on that list; however, Randy Johnson’s plaque clearly shows the Arizona Diamondbacks logo on his cap.
Q. Are there any designated hitters in the Hall of Fame?
A. Again, it depends on what list you look up. Here are the American League players in the Hall who played significant time at DH—Paul Molitor, Jim Rice, Frank Thomas, Edgar Martínez and Harold Baines. Thomas is seen as the first member who played a majority of games at DH.
When he was inducted into the Hall in 2022, David Ortiz of the Red Sox was named by ESPN as “the first career designated hitter to be selected on his first ballot.”
Q. How does the list of players in the Hall of Fame break down by position?
A. According to the Hall of Fame website itself (baseballhall.org/hall-of-fame), here is how the list breaks down:
Pitchers: 84
Catchers: 20
First Basemen: 27
Second Basemen: 20
Third Basemen: 19
Shortstops: 26
Left Fielders: 22
Center Fielders: 24
Right Fielders: 27
BONUS QUESTION:
Of the 84 pitches in the Hall of Fame, how many are lefthanded?
The answer: 17. Or 18.
It all depends on what site you look at. One website in particular even contradicted itself. It wrote, “Of the 84 pitchers in the Hall of Fame, 18 of them are lefthanded pitchers.” It then continued, “Those 17 lefthanded pitchers are....”
Resources: pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/professional; Wikipedia.org; Baseball-reference.com; baseballhall.org/hall-of-fame/election-rules/era-committees; lefthandedbaseball.com/hall-of-fame; baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers for only one team; mlb.com/hall-of-famers-by-mlb-team; betmgm.com/mlb-teams-with-most-hall-of-famers; pressofatlanticcity.com/halloffame; thelistwire.usatoday.com/lists/; cbssports.com/mlb/hall-of-fame-jim-leyland
