Tigers Legend Deserved More Hall of Fame Love After Beltrán, Jones
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On Tuesday, Cooperstown welcomed two new members into its hallowed halls, as Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones were selected for enshrinement into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Beltran was elected on 84.2% of the Baseball Writer's Association of America ballots in his fourth year of eligibility, while Jones got in on 78.4% of the ballots in his ninth year.
The pair of outfielders, who will officially enter Cooperstown in July alongside contemporary baseball era committee inductee Jeff Kent, earned their enshrinement thanks to long, decorated careers featuring standout play both offensively and in the field.
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But as with any Hall of Fame induction, comparisons are inevitable and the selection of one player (or two) can spark questions about why another similar player wasn't voted in. Hence why Detroit Tigers fans might be wondering why Magglio Ordonez didn't get more consideration when his name came up on the ballot back in 2017.
Should Magglio Ordonez Be in the Hall of Fame?
Ordonez was one-and-done when it came to Hall of Fame consideration by the BBWAA. In 2017, his first year on the ballot, the six-time All-Star received just three votes, falling well below the 5% threshold required to remain on the ballot. In hindsight, that looks like a pretty harsh outcome for a player with comparable numbers to the two freshly minted Hall of Famers.
Ordonez, who spent the last seven seasons of his 15-year career with the Detroit Tigers, finished his career with a better on-base percentage (.369) and OPS (.871) than either Beltran or Jones (or Kent, for that matter). He lacks the 13 Gold Gloves amassed collectively by Beltran and Jones, but neither Hall inductee can match the AL batting title he won with the Tigers in 2007, when he also finished second in MVP voting.
Generally speaking, Ordonez is recognized around baseball as producing sustained greatness, albeit while not quite achieving the 'elite' threshold that serves as the typical barometer for induction.
Still, there seems to be a disparate divide when it comes to three players with comparable numbers - one of whom was removed from the ballot after garnering just three votes and two who are now Cooperstown-bound after receiving the required 75% vote.
Apart from Ordonez's inadequacies in the field, the clear distinction here is his association with the Steroid Era. Although he was never proven to have used PED's, he was implicated in the bombshell 2008 New York Times report and, thus, falls under the suspicion of being a cheater to voters. Not that Beltran was always known for honesty throughout his career, mind you.
Ultimately, there has to be a line drawn somewhere and it's probably fair that Ordonez failed to meet the baseline for Hall of Fame inclusion. Still, you can't blame the guy for seeing more recent Hall classes and wondering if he wasn't given proper consideration. Perhaps that's what the contemporary baseball era committee is for.
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Ben Fisher is a long-time sportswriter and baseball lover, dating back to 2008, when he was a member of the media relations team for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has covered a wide range of sports for a seemingly endless array of publications, including The Canadian Press, Fansided and The Hockey Writers. When he isn't writing about sports, he can be found coaching his equally baseball-obsessed sons' Little League teams.