The 2017 class of entrants to baseball’s Hall of Fame is scheduled to be announced Wednesday afternoon, with former Padres closer Trevor Hoffman apparently on the cusp of election.
According to MLB.com, an unusually large class of five or six new members could be announced.
A Hall of Fame online vote tracker compiled by Oakland resident and baseball fan Ryan Thibodaux shows Hoffman’s name appearing on 73 percent of the known submitted ballots, which account for a little over half the total. That’s just short of the 75 percent needed.
Last year, Hoffman received 67.3 percent needed in his first year on the ballot.
“It’s going to be a couple of percentage points either way,” Hoffman told MLB.com recently. It’s going to be a little nerve-racking, no doubt about it.”
For years, relief pitchers were largely ignored by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, with former Padre Rollie Fingers among the exceptions. Former Cub and Cardinal Bruce Sutter in 2006 became the first inductee as a pitcher who never started a game on the mound.
If Thibodaux’s numbers hold, Astros first-baseman Jeff Bagwell, Expos and White Sox outfielder Tim Raines, and Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez will be part of the 73rd class to enter baseball’s shrine in Cooperstown, New York.
Hoffman, and Expos and Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, are both over 70 percent, according to his figures.
Hoffman gets my vote because his 601 career saves are second only to (Mariano) Rivera’s 652,” wrote Hal Bodley of MLB.com. Rivera was the longtime Yankees closer who picked up three saves in the 1998 World Series against the Padres — and becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame next year.
–City News Service
