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Phillies Stairs, Burrell, and Rhodes All Eliminated from HOF Contention

By John Town

Jul 31, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies former left fielder Pat Burrell is honored as the 37th inductee into the Phillies Wall of Fame before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 31, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies former left fielder Pat Burrell is honored as the 37th inductee into the Phillies Wall of Fame before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former Phillies Matt Stairs, Pat Burrell, and Arthur Rhodes were all eliminated from Hall of Fame contention after not receiving 5% of votes.

Not everyone is going to be a Hall of Famer. Thousands have played in the MLB, yet just a couple hundred are in Cooperstown. Only so many Phillies are in the Hall of Fame, and even fewer list Philadelphia as their primary team.

The list of potential Phils Hall of Famers shortened Wednesday as Pat Burrell, Matt Stairs, and Arthur Rhodes all failed to reach the 5% vote threshold, thus being eliminated from future ballots. They will join several other one-and-done hall-of-fame candidates like Jason Varitek, Jorge Posada and Magglio Ordonez.

All three received zero votes on their first chance at the ballot box. Billy Wagner received just over 10% of the vote, down nearly two percent.

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Another former Phillie, Curt Schilling, saw his number of votes drop after some social media issues during the election cycle.

Burrell spent nine years with the Phils after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 draft. Over his 12-year career, he appeared in 1640 games, hit 292 home runs, drove in 976 runs, and collected 1393 hits.

Burrell had just one hit in the 2008 World Series, but it came at the best time. He hit a double to lead off the seventh inning of Game Five when it was tied 3-3. That double led to the winning run after Eric Bruntlett pinch-ran for Burrell and scored on a Pedro Feliz single.

The 2008 season wasn’t the only time Burrell won a World Series as he brought home another ring as part of the 2010 Giants that defeated the Phils in the NLCS.

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Stairs also played a part in the 2008 World Series run, mashing a pinch-hit home run in Game Four of the NLCS against the Dodgers. That go-ahead home run was the biggest play of the game in terms of win probability added and allowed Philadelphia to win the game, and later, the series.

Stairs is the career leader in pinch-hit home runs with 23, which is a notable honor to have. He hit 265 home runs in his 19-year career. The new Phils hitting coach also holds the title for the most teams player for as a position player, wearing 12 different uniforms before his career was over.

Rhodes pitched one season in Philadelphia, posting a 5.32 ERA in 43.1 innings for the Phils. Overall, the lefty has a career 4.08 ERA, 1.304 WHIP, 2.23 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 87-70 record. His JAWS of 14.8 ranks 109th among all relief pitchers, and with just five in the Hall of Fame, it makes sense that Rhodes is done after this year’s voting.

Rhodes was also a part of the Cardinals team that eliminated the Phils in the 2011 NLDS. He later went on to win the World Series with St. Louis.

Next: Schilling Misses HOF

J.D. Drew, who infamously didn’t sign with Philadelphia after they drafted him in 1997, was also eliminated from Hall of Fame contention after missing the 5% threshold.

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