Photo courtesy MLB
It was announced on Tuesday that Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer were inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2024. They will also be joined by manager Jim Leyland who was voted in separately in the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. Here's a look at each player who was voted in by the BBWAA.
Adrián Beltré
Photo by G Fiume/ Getty
Starting with Adrián Beltré who had the most votes with 95.1%. Beltré played 21 seasons for the Dodgers, Mariners, Red Sox, and Rangers. Four-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove Winner, and a four-time Silver Slugger. Beltré had 3,166 hits and 477 home runs. Finished in the top ten of the MVP voting six times and is one of the best defensive third basemen of all time. He is the fifth player born in the Dominican Republic to reach the Hall of Fame.
He played one year in Boston in 2010 in which he led the league in doubles with 49. However, he will be remembered as a Ranger as three of his four all-star appearances were with the Rangers along with four of his five postseason appearances as a Ranger. The last thing to mention is Beltré becomes the sixth third baseman to get voted during their first year on the ballot.
Todd Helton
Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post
Next, we have Todd Helton who spent his entire 17-year career with the Colorado Rockies. He got into the Hall of Fame with 79.7% in his sixth year on the Ballot. Helton is a five-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and four-time Silver Slugger. He joins Larry Walker as the only Rockie in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
What held voters back was Coors Field was a hitter's ballpark; His numbers tell the story as Helton in his career hit .316/.414/.539 he hit 369 home runs, 2,519 hits and 1,406 RBI’s. He led the majors with a .372 batting average in 200 and not only that but he had consecutive seasons with 100 extra-base hits in 2000 and 2001.
Joe Mauer
Photo by Jim Mone AP
Finally, we round things out with Joe Mauer who was elected on his first year of the ballot gaining a percentage of 76.1%. Playing all 15 seasons with the Minnesota Twins for his hometown team. Mauer was drafted by the Twins in 2001 as the first overall pick. Mauer is a six-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger, three-time Gold Glove winner and a three-time batting champ. Not only that but he won the 2009 AL MVP.
Mauer ended his career with 2,123 hits and 143 home runs, he finished his career with a .306 batting average. In his MVP year, Mauer led the AL in average (.365), OBP (.444), and slugging percentage (.587). He is the third catcher ever to get inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
Looking ahead to next year’s ballot
Photo Courtesy Harrison Soep
Looking ahead to next year's ballot, it will feature lots of newcomers including Ichico Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Dustin Pedroia to name a few, it will also feature returning players such as Billy Wagner (73.8%), Andruw Jones (61.6), Carlos Beltrán (57.1), Alex Rodríguez (34.8), Manny Ramírez (32.5), Chase Utley (28.8), Omar Vizquel (17.7), Bobby Abreu (14.8), Jimmy Rollins (14.8), Andy Pettitte (13.5), Mark Buehrle (8.3), Francisco Rodríguez (7.8), Torii Hunter (7.3), David Wright (6.2).
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