The Hall of Fame ballot was released on Monday and Dustin Pedroia is one of 14 newcomers. It was too soon. Pedroia was forced to retire before the 2021 season after six surgeries on his left knee, the final one a partial replacement.
Instead of playing deep into his 30s, Pedroia was 35 when he played his last game in 2019. But his career essentially ended in 2017 when a dirty takeout slide by Manny Machado sent Pedroia tumbling to the ground in Baltimore. He was never the same physically.
Now voters face the dilemma of judging whether Pedroia did enough to merit a spot in Cooperstown. History suggests he did not. Pedroia finished his career with 1,805 hits and no position player with fewer than 1,912 has ever been elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
He also played only 1,512 games. But Pedroia was a four-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove winner, a two-time World Series champion, and was both a Rookie of the Year (2007) and Most Valuable Player (2008). Former Mets star David Wright offers a good comparison.
Like Pedroia, he was on a Hall of Fame path early in career. Then a back injury wrecked his career and Wright played only 77 games from 2015-18. Wright was on the ballot for the first time last season and received 6.
2 percent of the votes. That was enough to remain in consideration this year. Pedroia should hope for the same.
Stay on the ballot, stay in the discussion and hope he can build enough of a case over time. Even if the writers leave him out, it could lead to Pedoia being considered by one of the Hall’s oversight committees down the road. “Anybody who votes for me, I’ll be appreciative.
That’s how I look at it,” Pedroia said in June after he was selected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame. Two other former Sox players will make their ballot debuts. Second baseman Ian Kinsler, best known for his time with the Rangers, played 37 games for the Red Sox in 2018 and 11 more in the postseason for his only World Series ring.
Kinsler and Pedroia were teammates at Arizona State in 2002 before Kinsler transferred to Missouri. Hanley Ramirez played 431 games for the Red Sox. Two of them came in 2005 when he was a well-regarded 21-year-old prospect.
Ramirez was then traded to Miami as part of the deal that returned Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell. He returned as a free agent in 2015 and had a . 777 OPS over four seasons.
Hanley Ramirez came up through the Red Sox system, was traded to Miami, then returned to play four seasons at Fenway. Jim Davis/Globe StaffCC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki are the two most prominent newcomers. Suzuki, the sublime Mariners outfielder, seems sure to be a first-ballot choice after a career that included 3,089 hits, 509 stolen bases, and 10 All-Star selections.
He would be the first Japanese player in the Hall. Suzuki also could be the first position player to be a unanimous selection. Derek Jeter fell one vote short of that honor and Ken Griffey Jr.
three, proving the BBWAA always has a few small-minded voters who will act in anonymity. Sabathia was an ace lefty with the Indians, Brewers, and Yankees. He won 251 games and struck out 3,093.
His case is not airtight but still compelling. Former Astros closer Billy Wagner, who briefly played for the Red Sox in 2009, returns to the ballot for the 10th and final time, having reached 73. 8 percent last year.
Andruw Jones (61. 6 percent), and Carlos Beltrán (57. 1) also hope to make strides.
Ballots go out to the nearly 400 voters this week and must be postmarked by Dec. 31. Any new Hall of Famers will be revealed on Jan.
21 with the induction set for July 27 in Cooperstown. The Hall’s Classic Baseball Era Committee votes on Dec. 8.
The late Luis Tiant is on that ballot along with Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, and Dave Parker, along with former Negro League stars John Donaldson and Vic Harris. Peter Abraham can be reached at peter. abraham@globe.
com. Follow him @PeteAbe. This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
