MLB Network announced the 2023 Hall of Fame players on the morning of the 25th (Korean time). Only one player was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, which is determined by the vote of reporters belonging to the BBWAA (All Baseball Writers Association). Top third baseman Rolen was named to the Hall of Fame in his 6th challenge.
Rolen passed the Hall of Fame cut-off in six moves. He is a third baseman who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds from 1996 to 2012. He recorded a batting average of 0.281, an OPS of 0.855, 316 home runs and 1287 RBIs in 2038 career games. He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1997 and was a special defender with a whopping 8 Gold Gloves. He participated in the All-Star Game seven times.
He failed to enter the Hall of Fame last year by a margin of 5.2 percentage points when he received 69.8% of the vote. He surpassed 75% this year with a total of 297 votes and 76.3% of the vote.
Helton, another strong candidate, failed to cross the 75% barrier in the fifth challenge. Helton promised next year with a total of 281 votes and 72.2% of the vote. 메이저놀이터
The jump in the vote rate raises expectations for next year. Helton barely passed the majority with 54.5% of the vote last year, which was his fourth election. This year, it received the second most votes out of 28 candidates.
Helton is a franchise-star first baseman who only played for the Colorado Rockies from 1997 to 2013. In 2247 career games he played, he had 369 home runs and 1406 RBIs, with a batting average of 0.316 and an OPS of 0.953. He was a player with offensive ability who won the Silver Slugger four times and defensive strength who also won the Gold Glove three times.
In this poll, there were only two players who exceeded 70%, Rolen and Helton. Billy Wagner followed with 265 votes, 68.1%, followed by Andrew Jones with 226 votes, 58.1%. Jeff Kent, who took the 10th challenge, lost his candidacy after receiving 181 votes and 46.5%.
Meanwhile, Rolen will be inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Fred McGriff, who received unanimous consent from the Hyundai Baseball Players Committee last month. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held in July.