Posted on 01/12/2009 11:24:22 AM PST by GreatOne
Rickey Henderson, baseball's all-time stolen-bases and runs-scored leader, and power-hitting outfielder Jim Rice have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in balloting verified by Ernst & Young. They will be inducted into the Hall on July 26 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Henderson and Rice will be honored along with former New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians second baseman Joe Gordon, who was elected last month by the Veterans Committee. The July 26 Induction Ceremony will also include the presentation of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting to Tony Kubek and the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing to Nick Peters.
In the BBWAA election, 539 ballots, including two blanks, were cast by members with 10 or more consecutive years of service. Players must be named on 75 percent of ballots submitted to be elected. This year, 405 votes were required. Twenty-seven votes were needed to stay on the ballot.
Henderson was listed on 511 ballots (94.8 percent) to win election in his first year on the ballot. He becomes the 44th player to be elected by the BBWAA in his first year of eligibility.
Rice was listed on 412 ballots (76.4 percent) in his 15th and final time on the BBWAA ballot. He becomes the third player elected by the BBWAA in his final year of eligibility, following Red Ruffing (1967) and Ralph Kiner (1975). Rice received seven votes more than the minimum needed for election.
This marks the 24th time the BBWAA has elected two Hall of Famers in the same year. The two new Hall of Famers bring the total number of elected members of the Hall to 289. Of that total, 202 are former Major League players, of which 108 have been elected through the BBWAA ballot. Henderson and Rice are the 20th and 21st left fielders elected and the first since Carl Yastrzemski in 1989. No other position had gone longer without a new Hall of Famer.
Henderson, 50, is Major League Baseball's career leader in stolen bases (1,406) and runs scored (2,295) and is second all time in walks (2,190). He was named to 10 All-Star teams and was the 1990 American League Most Valuable Player with the Oakland Athletics, with whom he won a World Series title in 1989. Henderson, who played for nine teams over 25 big league seasons, also won a World Series ring in 1993 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. He holds the Major League Baseball record for steals in a season with 130, which he set in 1982 with the A's, and he holds the big league record of 81 home runs leading off games. Henderson received the 13th-highest voting percentage ever, finishing right behind Babe Ruth (95.1 percent) and just ahead of Willie Mays (94.7 percent)
Rice, 55, spent his entire 16-year big league career with the Boston Red Sox. The 1978 AL MVP finished in the top five of the MVP voting five other times, finishing second to teammate Fred Lynn in the 1975 AL Rookie of the Year voting. He led the AL in homers three times, hit .300 or better seven times and was selected to eight All-Star Games. He is the only player in history to post three straight seasons of 35 or more home runs and 200 or more hits. He finished his career with a .298 batting average, 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs.
Andre Dawson (361 votes, 67 percent) and Bert Blyleven (338 votes, 62.7 percent) were the only other players listed on more than half of the ballots. Rounding out the top 10 were: Lee Smith (240 votes, 44.5 percent); Jack Morris (237 votes, 44.0 percent); Tommy John (171 votes, 31.6 percent); Tim Raines (122 votes, 22.6 percent); Mark McGwire (118 votes, 21.9 percent) and Alan Trammell (94 votes, 17.4 percent).
Players remain on the ballot for up to 15 years provided they receive at least 5 percent of the vote. Players who will return to the ballot next year are: Dawson, Blyleven, Smith, Morris, Raines, McGwire, Trammell, Dave Parker, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy and Harold Baines.
Tommy John, who received 31.7 percent of the vote in his 15th-and-final year of BBWAA ballot eligibility, will be eligible for Veterans Committee consideration in the fall of 2010.
Of the 10 newcomers to the ballot, Henderson was elected and the other nine did not receive sufficient support of 5 percent or more to stay on the ballot.
The vote: Rickey Henderson 511 (94.8 percent); Jim Rice 412 (76.4 percent); Andre Dawson 361 (67.0 percent); Bert Blyleven 338 (62.7 percent); Lee Smith 240 (44.5 percent); Jack Morris 237 (44.0 percent); Tommy John 171 (31.7 percent); Tim Raines 122 (22.6 percent); Mark McGwire 118 (21.9 percent); Alan Trammell 94 (17.4 percent); Dave Parker 81 (15.0 percent); Don Mattingly 64 (11.9 percent); Dale Murphy 62 (11.5 percent); Harold Baines 32 (5.9 percent); Mark Grace 22 (4.1 percent); David Cone 21 (3.9 percent); Matt Williams 7 (1.3 percent); Mo Vaughn 6 (1.1 percent); Jay Bell 2 (0.4 percent); Jesse Orosco 1 (0.2 percent); Ron Gant 0; Dan Plesac 0; Greg Vaughn 0.
I also think, seriously, that eveyone who left Henderson off their ballot should be prohibited from ever voting again. Ridiculous morons.
It’s a travesty that 28 “sportswriters” did not vote for Rickey Henderson. They need to have their voting rights removed immediately. They probably cover east coast teams (like the Red Sux) and have no clue about players west of the Mississippi River.
I wonder if Rickey Henderson will be the first person to induct himself into Cooperstown, and conduct his entire induction speech in the 3rd person.
You mean Bert “Be Home” Blyleven?
How can they call it a hall of fame if the greatest player ever keeps getting passed over? I’m talking about Pete Rose, since Ty Cobb is already in.
Glad to see that sportswriters finally got over their “He was meeeeean to me, waaahhh” feelings and voted Jim Rice into his proper spot in Cooperstown.
Well, I’ll disagree. I think Blyleven belongs. I didn’t collect or even look at baseball cards, I watched baseball.
They’ve been holding betting against Pete Rose for a long time. If there wasn’t all of that against him, I imagine he would have been inducted already.
Maybe if he was eligible, that wouldn't happen...
It seems that Blyleven is inching ever so closer to getting into the Hall. It’s a crying shame that he hasn’t been recognized so far. A truly great pitcher who had to play for years on some truly bad teams. He would have won at least 330 games if he had had some better run support.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/96851-why-bert-blyleven-belongs-in-the-hall-of-fame
Only Rickey understands Rickey!
How can they call it a hall of fame if the greatest player ever keeps getting passed over? I’m talking about Pete Rose, since Ty Cobb is already in.
Pete Rose broke a rule agreed upon by the union in collective bargaining. No fraternization with gamblers!
Case closed.
Ya think McGwire’s testimony in front of Congress hurt him with the voters?
Pete Rose will get elected to the HOF by the veterans committee after he dies. Rose disgraced the game and should not be allowed to give an acceptance speech. Giving Rose the boot from baseball was one of the best moves ever made by a baseball commissioner. Wish we had an honorable man like Giamatti as commissioner now. Selig is the worst baseball commissioner of all time.
Yeah, I have to wonder about the sanity of the 5% who didn’t vote for Ricky Henderson — but then I see that Babe Ruth and Willie Mays “only” received around 95% too, when they went in. GEESH..... if those 3 don’t automatically belong in the HofF then it’s hard to know who does.
I know some people just like to be contrarian, but who could really try to justify not voting Ricky Henderson into the HofF?????
I’m glad to see Jim Rice get in, finally (OK, biased Red Sox fan here). I know the arguments against, but still, for a decade he was the premier hitter in the American League and even if his career stats did not end up huge he was just a phenomenal hitter. Surly guy with reporters, yeah. Well, a lot of reporters probably deserve some surliness. :^)
Andre Dawson - aka: The Hawk. Hope he makes it in next year. Always a great player at the top of the HR list every season, a gold glover, and as far as I can remember, a good all around role-model. He never played on a WS team (because he stayed with the Cubs) but he OWNED the outfield at Wrigley!
Let’s see what they do when Barry “Steroid” Bonds becomes eligilbe.
See: bear, woods; Pope, Catholic.
Good. Both deserving.
As a major Red Sox fan during all of the Rice years, I do NOT think he deserved to be in the HOF. In fact, I think Fred Lynn belongs there before Rice.
Also, I don’t think Wade Boggs belongs, either, but that’s another discussion.
Rice had great talent, but never put himself out for the team. He was not a good clutch performer — not like Yaz, or Ortiz, or Manny, for instance. Rice could not bear down and deliver a hit or a sacrifice fly when the team absolutely needed it. He got his homers, and his singles, but I’ll bet that a disproportionately large number of his homers came with no men on base, or when the game was not on the line.
Rice made himself into an average left fielder — he began his career as a poor left fielder — as compared to the incomparable fielding of Lynn (and Yaz).
Rice’s career ended in a hurry, too. He never really worked hard on his skills — he was more interested in golf than baseball. And when his bat speed began to fade, his career crashed, seemingly overnight.
And don’t get me started on Boggs! You had to be at Fenway, not just reading stats, to realize that Boggs was a bum.
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