Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees: Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell
By Ty Duffy
New Kids in the Hall: Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines elected to the @baseballhall. #HOF2017 pic.twitter.com/EKseHcf9sM
— MLB (@MLB) January 18, 2017
Baseball writers have weighed in. Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jeff Bagwell have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The full voting results are here.
Raines excelled at getting on base and stealing bases. He was, per sabermetrics, among if not the most valuable players in baseball for about seven years with the Expos at the start of his career.
Rodriguez was the best all-around catcher in baseball during his lengthy career. He is the first Detroit Tiger since 1974 to earn induction because voters screwed over Alan Trammell.
Incredible: Pudge is the first HOFer who has played even one game for the Tigers since 1974. https://t.co/WDkkRuNVxv
— Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) January 18, 2017
Jeff Bagwell was among the gaggle of sluggers who produced exceptional numbers throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s.
Padres closer Trevor Hoffman came five votes short at 74 percent. Some voters did turn in blank ballots. Vladimir Guerrero earned 71.7 percent of the vote on his first ballot, 15 votes shy. Others earning above 50 percent were Edgar Martinez (58.6), Roger Clemens (54.1), Barry Bonds (53.8), and Mike Mussina (51.8).