The 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame class has been announced, and Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina are in.
The votes have been tallied and the calls have been made. Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina will join Harold Baines and Lee Smith as members of the 2019 Hall of Fame class. This class features a little bit of everything, including the greatest closer of all time in Rivera, one of the best designated hitters to play in Martinez, and two starting pitchers who dominated opposing batters with Halladay and Mussina.
The voters nailed it, and there should be no backlash towards them. These are the players who deserved to be voted in.
Rivera, on his first ballot, stole the headlines as he became the first player to ever to be unanimously voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. A great testament to the greatest closer in baseball history and the all-time saves leader with 652.
Halladay and Martinez were tied for the second-highest percentage with 85.4 percent. Halladay was one of the game’s most dominant pitchers and he finished his career with a record of 203-105 and an ERA of 3.38. Sadly, Halladay tragically passed away before he could be enshrined in Cooperstown.
The election of Martinez was long overdue. He was on his final year of eligibility after he had been left off voter’s ballots for years. He was one of the best designated hitters to ever play and he was a key piece to the Seattle Mariners success in the 1990s. Martinez finished his career with 2,247 hits, 309 home runs and 1,261 RBI. His career batting average of .312 and OBP of .418 are the highest among designated hitters of all time.
Mussina received the lowest vote percentage at 76.7 percent. He was a wild card throughout the voting process. There seemed to be speculation on if Mussina could get in, but at the end of the day, he was rightfully elected. He finished with a career record of 270-153 with an ERA of 3.68 while pitching in the height of the steroid era in very hitter-friendly parks.
The player to get the most votes without getting in was Curt Schilling. He came away with 60.9, and you need 75 percent to get in.
What about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens?
Surprisingly, they didn’t see a drastic jump. They only saw their voting percentage increase marginally from last year. Clemens received 59.5, and Bonds came away with slightly less at 59.1. However, the Hall of Fame has nothing to be ashamed about with the players that got in and who will celebrate this summer. Especially with Rivera becoming the first player to be unanimously voted in.