On Wednesday, Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, and Trevor Hoffman were all elected into the baseball hall of fame. For Jones and Thome it was their first time on the ballot thus making them first ballot hall of famers. As for Guerrero it was his second year on the ballot and Hoffman’s third year on the ballot.
Chipper Jones
Clipper received 97.2% of the votes, the highest mark of the four selected. He played 19 seasons, all with the Atlanta Braves. He was apart and a big reason the braves won 14 straight division titles from 1991 to 2005. He made 8 all star games and had a career batting average of 303. and 468 home runs.
Chipper is the only switch hitter in MLB history to have a 300. Batting average, 400. on base percentage, and 500. slugging percentage. He trails only Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray for most career home runs by a switch hitter. In 1995, Jones’ rookie season, he helped the Atlanta Braves win the world series over the Cleveland Indians. He also won his only MVP award in 1999.
Vladimir Guerrero
Vladimir, Vlady as he is better known by, Guerrero played 16 seasons in the MLB. He retired from baseball in 2012. He was on the hall of fame ballot last year and just missed out of making it in his first year. You need 75% of the votes to get in and he got 71.7 %. This year however he received 92.9% of the votes leaving no questions about it.
During his career Vlady accumulated a 318. Batting average, 449 home runs and 1,496 runs batted in. He was also named to 9 all star teams. He played for the Expos, Rangers, Orioles, and the team I remember him the most for, the Angels. As a young boy my first memories of baseball were going to Angel games with my family and watching Vlady take batting practice(man he could hit a ball hard and far). Sometimes overlooked, Vlady had a cannon for an arm and it was always so exciting when a runner would try to score from second on a base hit to right field and Vlady would throw a strike to home plate and nail the baserunner. He was a great player and is much desering for the Hall of Fame.
Jim Thome
Jim Thome received 89.8% of the votes on his first year on the ballot. He will always be remembered for his power. He hit 612 home runs, good enough for 8th on the all time list. He also owns the record for most walk off homeruns in MLB history with 13. Thome spend the beginning and majority of his career with the Cleveland Indians and will go into the hall an Indian. During the end of his career he bounced between teams including the Phillies, White Sox’s, Twins, Dodgers, and ended his career an Oriole.
Trevor Hoffman
Last year Trevor Hoffman barley missed being elected to the hall, he ended up with 74%. This season however he received 79.9% and was officially elected into the hall of fame. Hoffman, a closer, is only the third reliever pitcher to be elected into the hall of fame. Playing the majority of his career in San Diego he may be overlooked. He was the epitome of a perfect closer, throws hard and has a devastating out pitch, his signature changeup. Hoffman however was most known for his wake up song, Hells Bells by ACDC. Whenever Petco Park started playing Hells Bells the crowd knew exactly what was happening and got all energize. I was luckily enough to experience this as a kid and it is something I will never forget. The energy of the whole stadium was simply incredible.