*Photo from Twins Daily*
These 3 players will be enshrined forever. 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre, first baseman Todd Helton, and catcher Joe Mauer have been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after the voting results became public on Tuesday.
Both Mauer and Beltre were inducted in their first year on the Hall of Fame ballot, while Helton was in his 6th year of eligibility out of the 10 afforded to a player. Beltre collected 95.1 percent of the vote, Helton had 79.7 percent of the vote, and Mauer had 76.1 percent of the vote. 75 percent of the vote is needed for induction.
Beltre played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, and Texas Rangers in 21 years in the majors. He had a .286/.339/.480 slash line with 477 home runs, 636 doubles, and 1,707 RBI's in 2,933 games. He has a .261 average and .747 OPS with 6 doubles and 5 home runs in 28 playoff games.
During his career, Beltre was one of the most well rounded players in the game. He was selected to 4 All Star Games, won 4 silver sluggers, 5 gold gloves, and two platinum gloves while also reaching 3,000 career hits.
All 15 seasons in the majors for Mauer came in a Minnesota Twins uniform. He ended his career with a .306/.388/.439 slash line with a 124 OPS+, hitting 428 doubles and 143 home runs to go with 923 RBI's in 1,858 games. Though the Twins never won a playoff series in his career, he has a .275 average and .641 OPS in 10 playoff games and 44 plate appearances.
With a career average of over .300, Mauer has been one of the best hitters in recent memory, having retired after the 2018 season. He won 5 silver sluggers and 3 batting titles in the AL while also winning the AL MVP in 2009. He was a 3 time gold glover as a catcher and was selected to 6 All Star Games.
Helton spent his entire major league career with the Rockies, spanning 17 seasons before retiring after 2013. He has a .316/.414/.539 slash line with a 133 OPS+, hitting 369 home runs and 592 doubles to go with 1,406 RBI's in 2,247 games. Across 15 playoff games, Helton has 12 hits and 8 walks in 66 plate appearances.
In his career, Helton was also a highly regarded hitter, winning the NL batting title in 2000 thanks to a .372 average and an OPS of 1.162. He took home 4 silver sluggers and 3 gold gloves in his career and had an OPS of .855 away from the hitter friendly Coors Field.
Former closer Billy Wagner fell just short of induction in his 9th year on the ballot, missing the cut by just 5 votes. Beltre, Mauer, and Helton will join Jim Leyland at the induction ceremony in July, as Leyland was voted in by the contemporary baseball era committee in December.
Comments
Post a Comment