Expo standout Guerrero named to hall
Jones, Thome and Hoffman also in; Martinez gets close
Former Montreal Expos outfielder Vladimir Guerrero has been selected for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Guerrero was voted in Wednesday along with third baseman Chipper Jones, infielder Jim Thome and relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman.
Guerrero, in his second year on the ballot, received 392 votes for 92.9 per cent. Seventy-five per cent is needed for induction.
The 42-year-old will become the youngest hall of famer.
Guerrero was the MVP in the American League in 2004, his first season with the then Anaheim Angels, when he batted .337 with 39 home runs and 126 runs batted in, plus league-leading totals in runs (124) and total bases (366).
The Dominican Republic native also played for the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles in a 16-season career in which he compiled a .318 batting average and .553 slugging percentage.
Guerrero was an eight-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award, seven times as a right-fielder and once as a designated hitter. He appeared in nine all-star games and had 13 seasons with a .300 or better batting average.
He had four 200-plus hit seasons, drove in 100 or more runs 10 times and scored 100 or more runs six times.
Guerrero’s son, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a minor-league third baseman in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, was recently ranked No. 3 on MLB’s top prospects list.
Meanwhile, Edgar Martinez toiled for six years in the minor leagues before finally making it to the majors full time in 1989.
What’s one more year of waiting for the Hall of Fame?
The former Seattle Mariners designated hitter and third baseman fell short in his bid for the baseball hall, finishing with 70.4 per cent of the vote in his ninth year on the ballot. Players need 75 per cent of the vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to make it to Cooperstown.
It was the second year Martinez’s voting total saw a significant jump. He could become the first player who was primarily a designated hitter during his career to reach Cooperstown.
But it was a crushing loss for fans who became optimistic after seeing him make significant gains in ballot tracking before the official announcement Wednesday.
“Thank you to all the fans out there that supported my (Hall of Fame) candidacy,” Martinez tweeted shortly after the announcement.
“We are trending up, next year may be the year. Thank you Mariners and the best fans in baseball.”
Just four years ago, Martinez was slogging at 25.2 per cent in the balloting, but the last few years have signalled a major change in how voters are viewing his contributions — even though he rarely played the field after 1992.
Martinez was at 58.6 per cent last year, but he cracked an important threshold by surpassing 70 per cent this year.
Every player who has reached the 70 per cent plateau at some point in the voting process has been inducted.