Have him pitch one inning with his son to reset the clock if needed to extend his strike out total by 3.
Spoiler: No Wagner voters Kevin Acee Andrew Baggarly Bill Ballou Jeff Blair Scott Boeck David Borges Marcos Breton Larry Brooks Pete Caldera Bob Cohn Ron Cook Brian Costa Tom D'Angelo Dave Daniel Ken Davidoff Steve Dilbeck Josh Dubow Todd Dybas Bill Evans Mark Faller Jefffey Flanagan Sean Forman Joe Garza Dan Gelston Alan Greenwood Marcus Hayes Jon Heyman Hirokazu Higuchi Mike Imrem Bruce Jenkins Christina Kahrl Ron Kroichick Keith Law Jack Magruder Andrew Marchand Tony Massarotti Dan McGrath Sam Miller Kevin Modesti Aurelio Moreno Carrie Muskat Rob Parker Ed Petruska Steve Politi Ray Ratto Tim Reynolds Anthony Rieber Phil Rogers John Romano Bob Ryan Mark Saxon Dick Scanlon Dan Shaughnessy John Shea Joel Sherman Steve Simmons David Skretta Brian Smith Joe Stiglich John Tomase Robert Tracy Juan Vené Bill Windler Steve Wine Hank Winnicki Gordon Wittenmyer
10th and final ballot. It is looking extremely good, but if he doesn't make it this time he probably never does. There is a huge stockpile ahead if him in the veterans process.
If my math is right. 78.7% of ballots = 303, so there are 385. 75% of 385 is 289 votes needed. 66 of the 303 did not vote for Wagner, so 237 did. Wagner needs 52 more votes out of the remaining 82 ballots.
He was 5 votes shy last time. He's gained 8 votes so far in public balloting. CC Sabathia is the big surprise right now. 90.7% of public ballots. He has more individual awards than Pettitte, but they were basically the same pitcher, Andy was just overshadowed by other stars on his own teams. And of course he has steroids on his resume, but I'm still surprised by the difference in voting. Seems like he'd be a lock in 2026 if he doesn't get in, which is something I did not see coming at all. Ichiro and Wagner are getting in, and with a % that high right now, CC is probably going to be super close to joining them. Beltran is looking good for 2026 or 2027 (2 weak ballots for newcomers). Also going to be a good opportunity for Andruw Jones.
I wasn't sure about C.C. in year 1, but have been 100% certain he would get in and quickly. 1) New York Factor 2) recency 3) Age of social media and his presence 4) fewer costars to take from his popularity.
I have to say that I am surprised that the HoF is turning a blind eye to Beltran's part in the Astros cheating scandal at the end of his career ... not because it is the right thing to do ... but because the HoF has black balled other cheaters hard.
How he'd rank among HOF starting pitchers w/ 200 Career Starts (67 currently): WAR: T-42 Wins: T-38 ERA: 66th ERA+: 46 Ks: 14 WHIP: T-49 I expected it to be years, if at all. I think of Mussina being better than Sabathia and he took 6 years. But the voters have changed and the ballot glut has decreased.
Cheating is relative. Would be similar to Gaylord Perry, who got in on his 3rd try. PEDs is a different ballgame. David Ortiz is the one guy that a strong connection didn't seem to hurt.
I think the NY aspect isn't important. I do think being well liked in the media it's huge. We also may be seeing 250 being a big number now that JV is considered the last guy that might get to 300, and even that is going to be hard for him to accomplish. Scherzer is a no doubt HOFer pitching into his 40s and still a good deal of work left for him to get to 250.
Man, every season when these HOF results come out, it reminds me how absurd it was that Kenny Lofton not only didn't make it, he fell off in his first year. Ichiro is 100% a HOFer, but when you compare Lofton's actual on field results to his, it shows just how much "perception" means. I think Sabathia is benefitting from that relative to a guy like Pettitte. CC was viewed as an ace during his prime. Pettite was viewed as a consistent #2/3 starter, even without the PED penalty. It has improved a ton in recent seasons, but it's still there.
Man outside of the Kid, Ichiro is my other favorite non Astro. I love the way he approached the game. Just go out and ball. He had a cool little section in that Ken Burns baseball doc (which was on Netflix when it was the sh*t). His father taught him to stand at the front of the box to be closer to the pitcher. Something like that. I always imagine there's a universe where he came to the show in his early 20s vs late. Challenging Rose for total career hits. Ok I'll get off my soapbox lol.
Are they aware THEY taught Beltran how to cheat in a more tech friendly way? And just because the result of THEIR cheating was a warning to other team to not do the same, does NOT mean they didn't cheat for years,
The Six Pitcher No Hitter on the Yankees. Billy Wagner getting the last out. Still stings today for the New York writers. Roy Oswalt striking out Derek Jeter and looking beat was awesome.
Dan Shaughnessy shouldn't get a vote anymore. He's always using his ballot to be a Look-at-me Louis. These awful baseball writers cherish their gatekeeping duties and they're among the many reasons baseball lost its status as "America's Pastime."
