The Baseball Hall of Fame has officially announced the Class of 2024, and while the three who made it are extremely valuable, their glaring omission makes my blood boil.
Legendary closer Bobby Wagner missed the 75 percent vote threshold for induction into the Hall by just five votes, according to BBWAA Vice President Bob Nightengale.
Billy Wagner was five votes short.
Joe Mauer won by four votes. https://t.co/I57dcgC3EJ— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 23, 2024
Wagner's non-admission proves how stupid and outdated Hall of Fame voters are.
Of the eight closers ever inducted into the Hall, Wagner has more saves than all but three. His 422 saves rank sixth all-time, surpassing Hall of Famers like Rollie Fingers and Goose Gossage. In an era when pitchers were allowed to pitch more, Gossage and Fingers racked up far more innings than Wagner, but over replacement, a key statistic that measures how much better a player is than his replacement. Wagner still outranks them in terms of wins (WAR).
That means he will probably enroll next year. But the Baseball Writers Association of America, which votes on Hall of Fame inductions, has a strange gatekeeping mentality, leading many to believe that the players they believe will ultimately be inducted are not yet in their prime. would choose not to vote.
For example, longtime Colorado first baseman Todd Helton was finally elected this year, his sixth year on the ballot, with 79.7 percent of the vote.But Helton just fell off short In 2023, he received 72.2 percent of the vote, a year in which writers only voted for Scott Rolen. (Related article: Angels slugger Anthony Rendon “literally hates baseball,'' says former teammate)
But this year, Helton, who has been retired since 2013, made an appearance. Despite Helton being the same player as last year and the year before, the percentage of votes cast for Helton jumped from 72.2 to 79.7 this year. Even though he no longer hits home runs or wins Gold Gloves, more than 7 percent of voters decided this was Todd's year.
why? What gives? If a guy deserves to be out today, he deserved to be out yesterday. It's that simple.
Is it because I like Wagner because he is my legendary closer for the New York Mets and I spent three years of my childhood watching him close out games? yes. Do you think I'm wrong about that? Absolutely not.
Wagner not making it to the polls for the 9th year means he must win next year or be permanently removed from the election (unless he is voted in) Separate committee It votes people from way back).If a player is participating in a vote 10 years And if they couldn't do that, that's it, they are donezo.
Personally, I can't think of a better candidate to be on next year's ballot. If inducted into the Hall of Fame, Wagner would become the Hall's first left-handed relief pitcher.
So if Wagner isn't available next year, I have high hopes for him, but I'm going to lose it.
I will be leading a (peaceful) march in Cooperstown to demand that stupid voters reconsider their ridiculous unspoken rules and include those who deserve it.
