A crowded field for Cooperstown
Jones, Thome, Vizquel join ballot that already has quite the queue of big names
NEW YORK— Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel are among 19 first-time candidates on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
They are joined by Johan Santana and Chris Carpenter. Also among the newcomers to the 33-man ballot announced Monday are Jamie Moyer, Andruw Jones, Carlos Lee, Kevin Millwood, Carlos Zambrano and Johnny Damon.
Trevor Hoffman, who fell five votes short last year, leads holdovers that include former Montreal Expos star Vladimir Guerrero, Edgar Martinez, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling.
Roy Halladay will not appear on the ballot for another year.
About 430 ballots are being sent to eligible voters from the BBWAA, and a player must receive at least 75 per cent for election. Ballots are due by Dec. 31and results will be announced Jan. 24. The BBWAA voted last December to have ballots of individual voters made public for the first time, but the proposal was rejected by the Hall of Fame’s board of directors.
Voters, who must have been members of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years, had been free to announce their votes on their own. About half chose to do so.
Jeff Bagwell, former Expo Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez were elected last year, when Hoffman drew 74 per cent. Guerrero had 71.7 per cent, followed by Martinez (58.6), Clemens (54.1), Bonds (53.8), Mussina (51.8) and Schilling (45).
Since a change in eligibility requirements eliminated some older voters, Clemens and Bonds received a majority of the vote for the first time last year, the fifth appearance on the ballot for each. Clemens rose from 45.2 per cent in 2016, while Bonds climbed from 44.3 per cent in 2016.
Players remain on the ballot for up to 10 years, provided they receive at least 5 per cent of the vote annually.
Jones, an eight-time All-Star, won the 1999 NL MVP and the 2008 NL batting title. He hit .303 with 2,726 hits and 468 home runs in 19 seasons with the Atlanta Braves.
Thome was a five-time All-Star who hit 612 home runs, eighth on the career list, over 22 seasons. Vizquel was an 11-time Gold Glove winner who set the record for most games at shortstop with 2,709.
Moyer was 269-208 in 25 seasons and in 2012 at 49 became the oldest pitcher to win a major league game.