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.
LOL. Good point. I would not be suprised to find out that Pete can’t read. He was not the brightest bat in the rack.
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Amen to that. in fact, Raines is the second-gretest lead-off man of all time after Rickey. His career OBP was, what, 40 points higher than Lou Brock's? And Brock got in on the first ballot, while Raines is stuck under 25% for the second straight year. Ridiculous.
And I make this comparison with all due respect to Lynn, who was one of my favorite players from the 1970’s.
Look at this comment and then get back to me:
If this isn’t a perfect illustration of the frustration that Blyleven had to endure pitching for bad teams, I don’t know what is!
Maybe he was accounting for the glove play and the baserunning? I don’t know, it may not have been the most accurate of opinions, but it sure was a fascinating answer to me.
Ditto for Ron Santo. He has a higher career batting average than Mike Schmidt, most of it during the pitcher's era from 1962-69, whereas Schmidt played most of his career afterward. Santo could field almost as well as Brooks Robinson, the gold standard for third basemen, and completely outshined him in producing runs. Nobody but an idiot will argure Schmidt or Robinson don't belong. With Santo being so close to both, I don't see how he can keep getting passed over either.
Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson, two former Boston Red Sox players, make it into the Baseball HOF! Way to go! :)
McGuire?
Only if they open a wing for steriod/HGH freaks. They could bronze his ass, and put a big brass syringe sticking out of one of the cheeks. His would be on display next to Bonds, Clemens, the cheating slugger from the Cubs who’s name escapes me right now, Canseco, the MVP from the Yankees.
Indeed, this wing would have a full bronze sculpture of Bud Selig. He’d be seated at a table with microphones on it testifying to Congress.
“It’s hard to imagine that anyone viewing Williams in 1941 or in 1957 would think he wasn’t as good as Lynn in 1975 or 1979.”
Agree, but consider these added intangibles: Lynn was a ROOKIE!!, and he was perhaps the greatest center fielder that I’d ever seen. He wasn’t the hitter that Williams was, but he was the best hitter on the team, and carried them on his back to game 7 of the World Series. He was A/L. MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Golden Glove winner, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!
If that’s a true story, it’s a classic. A guy with an ego like that, with as much enthusiasm for the game, that valued the check itself more than the money it was worth; to me that just makes me like him more.
I don’t think anyone in Cincinnati ever thought Petey was a nice guy, but betting or no betting, he downright played himself into my hall of fame.
Rickey had tons of classics. Here’s another one... In the late 1980s, the Yankees sent Henderson a six-figure bonus check. After a few months passed, an internal audit revealed the check had not been cashed. Current Yankees GM Brian Cashman – then a low-level nobody with the organization – called Rickey and asked if there was a problem with the check. Henderson said, “I’m just waiting for the money market rates to go up.”
Why he isn’t on TV with his own show is beyond me.
I think Bert will get in, eventually. I think this year was closer than previous years. I’ll be pulling for him.
I was also wondering how HOF eligibility works for anybody who continues playing in their sport of expertise after their major league professional playing days are over. Most people would probably be surprised with how many former professional athletes continue to play competitively in their sport of expertise after their major league playing days are officially over. Bill Lee, Bruce Hurst, Mark Fidrych, Pete Maravich, among many other athletes, continued playing after retiring from the highest level of their sport. Ironically, Pete Maravich died from a heart attack at the age of forty, while playing basketball in a church league pickup game.
Henderson is easily one of my favorite players of all time next to Tony Gwynn
Several things wrong with your observation. Foremost, Pete Rose is NOT the greatest player ever. Not even close.
It's not a problem so long as you're not playing professionally (MLB or minor league affiliate). In fact, I believe Henderson spent some time with an unaffiliated semi-pro team trying to work his way back to the bigs.
Accumulation of career stats means that one has consistently produced, at the major league level, for a LONG time.
It might not be flashy, but there's something to be said for endurance.
Although I *do* agree about the baseball card factor: except for Ricky Henderson, whose card I would gleefully burn with a magnifying glass...
Cheers!
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