Here’s my 5 for the Hall of Fame

While my friend and colleague Peter Schmuck voted for 10 players for the Hall of Fame, I have chosen five.

It’s become more popular to do what Peter has done, vote for some players who may not necessarily be Hall of Famers but keep their candidacy alive. If a candidate falls below 5 percent, they’re dropped from the following year’s ballot.

Many worthy candidates were undermined by this rule. Bobby Grich, Kenny Lofton and Lou Whitaker are three players I think are Hall of Famers, but they were one-and-done in their only appearance on the Baseball Writers’ of America ballots. I hope they’ll get in via Era committees in the future.

Schmuck and others want to make sure that Félix Hernández and Dustin Pedroia don’t disappear, and early tracking by Ryan Thibodeaux (@NotMrTibbs.com on Bluesky) seems to predict that they’ll remain candidates. He also felt that way about David Wright, who received 6.2 percent in his first time on the ballot a year ago.

I didn’t vote for those three. Nor did I vote for players who were suspended because of performance-enhancing drug violations — Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez. I also haven’t voted for Carlos Beltrán, whose statistics would have convinced me to vote for him had he not been punished for his role in the Houston Astros’ electronic sign-stealing scandal.

Beltrán’s vote totals probably will move up from his 57.1 percent total in 2024 and should soon surpass the 75 percent needed from 10-year members of the BBWAA. Players may remain on the ballot for 10 years as long as they receive the 5 percent.

I was a huge fan of Adam Jones and enjoyed covering him during his time with the Orioles. Jones and others on this ballot were excellent players, but don’t have compelling cases for Cooperstown.

A year ago, another Orioles favorite, J.J. Hardy, was on the ballot and didn’t receive a single vote, but it’s an honor to even be on the ballot.

Next year, still another Oriole standout, Nick Markakis, will be up for consideration, but he’s not likely to gain significant support, either.

One of the five players on my ballot is a certainty for election and could become the second unanimous choice, Ichiro Suzuki, joining Mariano Rivera. Suzuki’s brilliance at bat, 3,089 hits after waiting until he was 27 to play in the major leagues, make him a sure thing.

My other four are CC Sabathia, Andruw Jones, Chase Utley and Billy Wagner.

Sabathia’s won/loss record was 251-161, and he threw over 200 innings eight times in a career that ran from 2001-2019. Starting pitchers don’t carry the workload Sabathia did any longer, and he pitched in the postseason 10 times.

Wagner nearly entered the Hall last year. His 73.8 percent should ensure that he’ll be elected in his final year. He had 422 saves, eighth on the all-time list, and allowed just six hits per nine innings while striking out nearly 12 batters per nine.

Some detractors note that Wagner had a 10.03 ERA in 14 postseason games. I disagree. If he had those regular-season stats without appearing in the postseason, he’d still be a worthy candidate.

Jones, a 10-time Gold Glover and five-time All-Star, was terrific until he turned 30. He led the major leagues with 51 home runs and the National League in RBIs with 128 in 2005. His last six seasons weren’t very good. He bounced from the Atlanta Braves, where he spent his first 12 seasons, to the Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox and Yankees.

Many Hall of Fame voters are looking more favorably at players like Jones, who were dominant for 10 or so seasons instead of looking at just consistent numbers over a longer career. Jones got 61.6 percent of the vote last year and with no big name first timers likely to be on next year’s ballot, should be elected then.

I voted for Utley in his first year of eligibility. He received 28.8 percent and should start trending higher. While there are 19 second basemen in the Hall of Fame, only five have been voted in by the baseball writers since Jackie Robinson in 1990.

Utley’s 64.5 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) isn’t far off from three of those five — Craig Biggio, 65.5; Roberto Alomar, 67.0; and Ryne Sandberg, 67.9. Rod Carew and Joe Morgan are the others.

Utley was a six-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger with the Philadelphia Phillies, and while he had only 1,885 hits, he hit a .358 on-base percentage to go along with his .275 batting average. Utley led the major leagues in hit-by-pitch three straight years and is ninth on the all-time list.

I considered others, including Utley’s longtime teammate, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who was a four-time Gold Glover and three-time All-Star. Rollins had 2,455 hits, but his OPS (.743) and WAR (47.6) were far below Utley’s.

There are some intriguing first-year players on the ballot, including Hernández and Pedroia, but I like a shorter list.

If Suzuki, Sabathia and Wagner are elected, perhaps I’ll think seriously about others a year from now, but I’m comfortable with this list of five.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.