The Baseball Hall of Fame. It is a time when the writers association get to submit their ballots and reminisce on the old days of retired stars dominating the field and decide if their tenure in MLB deserves to reside in Cooperstown NY. It is always fun to look back at old names from José Reyes to Andrew Jones to David Wright and remember the spectacular nature that evolved their game. Everyone who’s done something for the game gets to experience the hall of fame ballot though most don’t make it past the first round. Majority sink and only few make it to 75%, its the way the sport goes. The requirements for the hall of fame are so specific as many voters sway from players prime years to longevity. Meaning players like David Wright will most likely never reach gold because of a career cut short due to injury.

But nevertheless the ballot is a pristine making of only the truest candidates this game has to offer. And this year is no short on the amount of potential players we can see inducted into the hall of fame this evening. There are 4 players that look to be hall of famers by the end of the day those names include 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre, who reached the 20 year plateau with the Dodgers, Mariners, Red Sox and Rangers. Catcher Joe Mauer who played all 15 years with the Twins. He is the only catcher to ever win 3 batting titles- 2006 (.347) 2008 (.328) and 2009 (.365). LHP closer Billy Wagner who will join the selective group of closers to make the hall of fame. And the greatest Rockie to ever play in Coors; Todd Helton. We haven’t had this big of a class since 2019 and it looks like the class will get 5 more plaques soon! Lets take a closer look at each of the 5 candidates and see their hall of fame worth.

Adrian Beltre 3B

Adrian Beltre began his long career in 1998 and finished it off in 2018. He became the first Dominican born player to reach 3,000 hits on 7/30/2017 and was only 23 home runs short from the 500 club. He ranks 3rd all time in WAR for a 3rd baseman with 93.5 only behind the great Eddie Matthews and Mike Schmidt. He is a six time gold glove winner from 2007, 2008, 2011,2012, 2015 and 2015. And a 4 time silver slugger from 2004, 2010-2011 and 2014. He averaged 26 home runs a season and 94 RBIS with his career numbers coming in 2004 as a Dodger when he finished with 48 bombs and 121 RBIS where he came in 2nd in MVP votes to the great Barry Bonds. With only 250 ballots public he currently stands at 98% for HOF, with a percentage that high it is clear the baseball world knows Beltre is a historical entity.

Joe Mauer Catcher

My personal favorite out of the 5 is Joe Mauer. A position so volatile and important yet a position that provides little offensive support is that of the catching position. And Joe Mauer 100% made his time worth it backing up the plate both defensively and offensively. The #1 overall pick, hometown kid, a left handed batter and a lifetime .300 hitter as a catcher. He averaged a .314 batting average his first 5 seasons with the Twins before erupting with a .365 batting average in 2009 where he also lead the league in OBP (.444), SLG (.587) and OPS (1.031) where he had the highest OPS+ of any qualified batter in 2009 with 171+. It led him to his first MVP win in his career. Taking home the batting title, MVP, golden glove and sliver slugger all in one season is extremely impressive but doing it as a catcher, now that deserves hall of fame recognition! Both Mauer and Beltre are in their first years and look to only have one year on the ballot as both as well above the 75% mark. He had 4 top ten MVP finishes, 5 silver sluggers and 3 golden gloves and played all 15 years with his hometown team the Twins. With a metric based on highest OPS in games as a catcher,  Mauer ranks 3rd all time with an (.886 OPS) only behind Mickey Cochrane (.899) and Mike Piazza (.941) With his 55.2 WAR he averaged around 4.0 WAR per season, he most definitely is what this hall of fame needs, another superstar catcher back in Cooperstown.

Todd Helton 1B

Another superstar to play for just one team; Todd Helton. Now before we jump into crazy takes of the ‘Coors Field Effect’ that we have to judge the players stats in Coors with a grain of salt because of how much lighter the air is and how much faster the balls travel. Todd Helton performed pretty evenly when he played in Coors and was on the road. His .316 career average is truly hall of fame worthy and it isn’t a large drop in average of .287 his batting average away from Coors. The Coors effects excuse should not be validated, the player cannot control the climate he plays in and just because it is in Coors doesn’t mean he cannot be in discussion with other HOF caliber players. He took the league by storm in 2000 where he finished top 5 in MVP, though his numbers showed he should have finished higher. He had 216 hits, 42 home runs, a colossal 147 RBIS and an insane batting average of .372, the closest a player hit to .400 since Tony Gwynn hit .394 in the 90’s. He had almost a .700 slugging % and didn’t even win MVP, insane! During a time of heavy PED use he was neglected as one of the game’s best power hitters. He was a superstar and finally gets the recognition he desperately deserves as Colorado’s sole dominator. He hit for less power after Coors field installed a humidifier in the stadium to try and match the climate of majority of MLB’s stadiums closer to the sea level. Todd Helton is a left handed slugging power bat who had an insane stretch of absolute disgusting play and I hope he finally gets recognized. He was around 82.5% with 250 ballots public, so there is a chance Helton joins Larry Walker in Cooperstown as the only Rockies members in it together.

Billy Wagner Closer

It truly is hard for relief pitchers to get recognized for the outstanding performances they pull off each season. Its frankly due to them having limited appearances and low inning count so it is hard to justify bringing in a relief pitcher to the hall of fame where they will be compared to the likes of Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman. However with recent inductions to Lee Smith (2019) and Bruce Sutter already being in the HOF since 2006, it opens up a valuable argument for who really deserves to be in the hall. Billy Wagner is the next culprit up in his 9th season on the ballot. He has slowly been gaining more traction as the years went on and has seen to peak at 68.1% last year. He is currently hovering over the 75-82% mark which means he should be HOF eligible. He played 16 years in the majors most prominently coming from the Houston Astros and New York Mets, Wagner also had some time with the Braves, Red Sox and Phillies. Besides one fluke of a season where he finished with an ERA over 6.00, Wagner never had an ERA above 2.85. He was a consistent ballplayer that worked everyday. If the value of the HOF is based on the metric of longevity and continued dominance then Wagner should more than certainly be on this list as he maintained continued success for all years of playing. He had 9 seasons with 30+ saves and two of those seasons led him to top 6 in the CY Young race. He is underrated to say the least and will have a hard time commanding the ballot, but with 422 career saves he has a shot.

As you can see just because a player has a long prime of stardom is hardly ever equivalent to being hall of fame talent. It requires years of dedication and practice to the sport, breaking records isn’t just one part you have to impress the association. With most of the writers ballot featuring old people most cannot understand what truly makes a player hall of fame worthy and fail to look over each and every player. Not every player has to jump out and bleed hall of fame like a generational talent would, but players like Scott Rolen and Harold Baines who both made the hall require these writers to actually value each and every player. Everyone who makes it on the ballot is worth being acknowledged in the same category of the greats, but most ignore the truth.

The HOF has truly lost its essence, with the PED era taking over baseball in the late 1990s to early 2000s the importance of the game was lost with everyone taking performance enhancing drugs. But at what cost do we value these players who took PEDS as regular staples in baseball history enough to be considered a HOF entity? Players dominated the early 2000s with 2001 being a crazy year upon itself with the home run race featuring 3 electric power hitters in Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome Sammy Sosa and Luis Gonzalez all finishing above 50 home runs yet were out beaten by the monstrous 73 home run mark set by Barry Bonds. Are these players outstanding in their own remark? Yes absolutely, did they provide a larger entertainment platform for the game, YES YES they did! Then it doesn’t make sense for these same guys who brought so much energy to be left off hall of fame consideration just because they use steroids. Once the game started to turn a new slate and go clean they were hunting down on the big PED users and punished them for their wrongdoings. Yet there were players like David Ortiz who get into the HOF the first year even after admitting to steroids still gets in! It baffles me. But then I realize there isn’t any strict ban on players except on Pete Rose, it is mainly the stubborness of the writers association who are too old to realize this greats do belong in the hall of fame are are being widely disrespected. Even players like Curt Schilling, one of the best postseason pitchers who lead the 2001 Diamondbacks and 2004 Red Sox to a championship still hasn’t gotten into the HOF because of his controversial political beliefs that swayed voters the other way. Even the whole thing with Pete Rose who was banned for gambling on the Reds when he was manager is complete bullshit! He played his heart out and has the most hits all time just for the writers to boot him off the ballot. Yet, Ortiz a lovable character in Boston gets in even after admitting to PEDs!

In the end the hall of fame only takes less than 1% of the total amount of players who stepped foot on an MLB field. It is a remarkable achievement and hasn’t not lost its pristine with how they value these players, just it is hard to truly see the value in all the players when more than half who are capable of being in the HOF get ignored in the 10 years on the ballot. Times will change, but for now let us appreciate those who have dedicated their lives to the wonderful sport of baseball and who will live on in eternity in Cooperstown. A name is only a name as long as your life commands, but a legacy is only defined by the lasting impacts you’ve provided in your life.