First Puzzling 2023 Hall Of Fame Ballot Cast: How Does It Affect Adrian Beltré?
Adrián Beltré will not be a unanimous selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
It took 32 ballots for Beltré to be left off, as Bill Ballou, who writes for the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Mass., turned in his ballot and left him off his selections.
Beltré had appeared on the first 31 ballots cataloged made public by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Ballou only voted for two players — Manny Ramirez and Álex Rodríguez, the latter a former Texas Rangers player. Both of whom have been the subject of multiple banned substance accusations.
His logic? Ballou wrote that he only votes for the “elite of the elite.” He wrote that on his last five ballots, he’s only voted for the following players — Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Mariano Rivera, Ramirez, and Rodriguez.
As for Beltré’s candidacy, he wrote that it was “very interesting.”
Beltre will get plenty of support and maybe even make it on this year’s first ballot. There are voters who are passionate about Beltre’s qualifications, and those qualifications are impressive.
After listing the players he’s voted for, Ballou provided this analysis:
He also predicted that Beltré would make it “at some point, probably sooner rather than later.”
Beltré is in his first year of eligibility. Being a unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer is very rare. Only Rivera has gotten every vote cast in their first year of eligibility. Even his teammate, shortstop Derek Jeter, fell one short of being a unanimous selection. No-brainers such as Ken Griffey Jr. (three votes short), Tom Seaver (five votes), and Rangers legend Nolan Ryan (six votes) weren't unanimous either.
Beltré hit .286 for his career, with 3,166 hits and 477 home runs. He drove in 1,707 runs in his career, 25th most all-time. Only 17 players collected more hits. Only 30 players hit more homers.
He was a four-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner — including three with the Rangers — and four-time Silver Slugger, two of which were with the Rangers.
Players need 75% of the vote to be inducted. Votes are to be completed by Dec. 31 with inductees to be announced on Jan. 23.
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