As the announcement of the 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame class draws nearer, which Phillies will get to be enshrined in Cooperstown?
Nine former Phillies are eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year with both new and old names among those eligible. With the election results being announced in just over two weeks, which former Phils will join the ranks in Cooperstown.
With 37.6% of ballots known via Ryan Thibodeaux’s ballot tracker as of the publishing of this article, four former players are on pace to be inducted: Mariano Rivera (100% of votes), Roy Halladay (94.2%), Edgar Martinez (90.3%), and Mike Mussina (82.6%).
Halladay is on pace to be inducted in his first year of eligibility, receiving votes on 146 of 152 possible ballots so far. His career accolades and achievements did more than enough to make him worthy of enshrinement. Halladay already had his number retired by the Blue Jays and he was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame last summer.
Another former Phillie, Curt Schilling, is on the precipice of being inducted, receiving 72.9% of total votes so far. He needs 75% to be inducted (which he had a few weeks ago) but his chances of getting inducted look significantly better than in years prior. Last year he only received 51.2% of votes for induction.
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Schilling, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds are all controversial figures who are just below the induction threshold as things stand now. Clemens and Bonds have received 74.8% and 74.2% of votes so far, respectively.
Two other former Phils, Scott Rolen and Billy Wagner, are on pace to remain eligible for induction. They have received 19.4% and 14.8% of possible votes, respectively, so far.
Rolen’s vote total has increased from 10.2% while Wagner’s has increased from 11.1%.
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Michael Young, Roy Oswalt, Placido Polanco are the only other former Phils to receive Hall of Fame votes. Young has received three votes, Oswalt has received two, while Polanco has received one. Polanco’s voter’s ballot (Bill Madden) has not been added to the tracker as he only revealed part of his ballot.
Juan Pierre and Freddy Garcia have not received a single vote yet and it’s unlikely that they will at all. 2019 will likely be the only year these two plus Young, Oswalt, and Polanco will be on the Hall of Fame ballot.
As it stands now, it looks like Halladay is headed to the Hall.
Schilling could be as well depending on how the remaining voters think, but the odds are good. Wagner and Rolen will remain on the ballot for another year, but they won’t make it this year. Young, Oswalt, Polanco, Pierre, and Garcia will likely be one and done after this year.
Next year, in addition to the returning players, Bobby Abreu and Cliff Lee will be eligible for Hall of Fame induction. Both should be able to stick around for a few years on the ballot.