Bagwell, Raines & Pudge Rodriguez to Enter Baseball Hall of Fame in July

You can add three more players to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The results of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) was released this evening and Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez each exceeded the required 75% threshold necessary to be inducted in July. Bagwell, Raines and Rodriguez garnered 86.2%, 86% and 76% of the vote respectively.

Just missing the cut were Trevor Hoffman and Vladimir Guerrero who received 74% and 71.7% of the vote respectively. Hoffman fell exactly five votes short of induction. Expect them to lead the Cooperstown Class of 2018.

Players who fell well short but made significant gains in the balloting include Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina as well as Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds who all exceeded 50% of the vote. However, as I suspected, Curt Schilling saw his vote decline because of his controversial statements and support for Trump while Lee Smith in his 15th and final year on the ballot could not expand beyond a third of the BBWAA.

In 15 big league seasons, all with the Houston Astros, Jeff Bagwell hit .297 with 449 HR and 1529 RBI and also had a lifetime OBP of .408. Bagwell scored 100 or more runs seven times leading the NL in that statistic thrice. He won NL Rookie of the Year in 1991, was named NL MVP in 1994, earned a Gold Glove at first base and was a four time NL All-Star.

Tim Raines was one of the most dominant offensive forces in the 1980's during his tenure with the Montreal Expos. Raines stole 70 or more bases six consecutive seasons and led the NL four consecutive seasons. In all, Raines stole 808 career bases, fifth on the MLB all-time list. In 23 seasons, he compiled a .294 batting average with 170 HR and 980 RBI. He won a NL batting title in 1987, earned a World Series ring with the New York Yankees in 1996 and was named to seven consecutive NL All-Star Teams.

Ivan Rodriguez becomes only the second catcher in MLB history to be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot. Johnny Bench was the other. Arguably the greatest defensive catcher in MLB history, "Pudge" earned 13 Gold Gloves for his defensive work and 14 AL All-Star appearances. He won 10 straight Gold Gloves and was named to 10 straight All-Star games between 1992 and 2001. In 21 seasons, I-Rod hit .296 with 331 HR and 1332 RBI. Rodriguez also won a World Series ring with the Florida Marlins in 2003.

Bagwell, Raines and Rodriguez will be inducted on July 30th along with former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Atlanta Braves President John Schuerholz.