Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it was announced Wednesday. Jones and Thome were both elected in their first year of eligibility. This is the fourth time that the Baseball Writers’ Association of America has elected four players in a year (1947, 1955, 2015).
“It was waterworks,” said Jones, who drew 97.2 percent of the vote after being selected on 410 of 422 ballots.
The four will join veterans committee inductees Jack Morris and Alan Trammell in entering the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 29 in Cooperstown, New York.
It took 75 percent for election, or 317 votes, to be elected into the Hall of Fame. Designated hitter Edgar Martinez came close — falling just 20 votes shy — after a grass-roots campaign. Roger Clemens, who was picked on 57.3 percent of ballots, and Barry Bonds (56.4), both tainted by the steroids scandal, edged up in voting totals but again fell far short.
Jones, an eight-time All-Star who played all 19 seasons for the Atlanta Braves, ranks third all time in home runs by a switch-hitter. The veteran third baseman had a career .303 batting average with 468 home runs.
He is the only switch-hitter with at least 1,000 at-bats and a .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage.
“I don’t know how you tabulate or calculate WAR,” Jones said, referring to a sabermetric stat that didn’t exist for much of his career. “… What I want to see is batting average, on-base percentage, runs produced.”
Jones, a force for most of the Atlanta teams that won 14 straight division titles, joins former teammates John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, manager Bobby Cox and general manager John Schuerholz in the Hall.
Of the four new members, Jones was the only one to win a World Series. He joins Ken Griffey Jr. as the only overall No. 1 draft picks to reach the Hall.
Thome hit 612 home runs, which ranks eighth all time, over his 22 seasons with the Indians, Phillies, White Sox, Twins, Dodgers and Orioles. The infielder’s 13 walk-off home runs are more than any other player.
Source and Read More: ESPN
My Conclusion
This is AWESOME!!! I’m a die-hard Red Sox fan, but I’m always wanting the Atlanta Braves to do great. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Dave Justice, Ron Gant, Dave Justice and Dale Murphy are some of my top Braves. When it comes to Chipper Jones, he’s my favorite Atlanta Brave player of all-time and this Hall-Of-Fame nod is well-deserved.
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The game-deciding hit changed into the centerpiece to the modern-day in some other lovely Trout performance. He reached base in all four plate appearances, also on foot two times or even attending to first on a catcher’s interference.