Phillies unveil 2019 Wall of Fame ballot featuring Abreu, Rolen
Another Phillies legend will be inducted onto the Wall of Fame this summer.
The Phillies have unveiled the 2019 Wall of Fame ballot with eight former players and two former coaches.
Scott Rolen, Bobby Abreu, Steve Bedrosian, Gene Garber, Doug Glanville, Bake McBride, Placido Polanco, and Manny Trillo represent the player candidates. Late manager Jim Fregosi, who took the 1993 Phillies to the World Series, is once again a candidate and Rich Dubee, who managed one of the greatest pitching staffs in Phillies history, is a surprising candidate.
Abreu and Rolen will be considered the front-runners despite playing for some bad Phillies teams in the early 2000s. Both missed the chance to play for the greatest teams in club history by a couple of years after being traded.
Rolen’s relationship with the city and franchise is a complicated one after he requested a trade in 2002, claiming the team wasn’t doing enough to win. On a trajectory to be one of the greatest third basemen of all-time, Rolen’s career took off with the Cardinals, Reds, and Blue Jays after seven years in Philadelphia.
Rolen’s 29.3 WAR is the 17th best in Phillies history, and he has a large Cooperstown backing.
Abreu spent nine years of a borderline Hall of Fame career in Philadelphia after a trade with the Astros. He’s generally appreciated in Philadelphia and is a very strong candidate this year. His 47.2 WAR is the sixth-highest in franchise history behind Mike Schmidt, Chase Utley, Ed Delehanty, Richie Ashburn, and Sherry Magee.
Bedrosian pitched just four seasons in Philadelphia, but he made that limited time count with a Cy Young in 1987 when he led the league with 40 saves. His 103 saves are the third-most in franchise history behind Jonathan Papelbon and Jose Mesa.
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Another reliever on the ballot is Garber, who spent 5 of his 19 years in Philadelphia. Garber had a 2.68 ERA and 51 saves in 250 relief appearances. His .600 win percentage is the 10th best in franchise history.
Glanville is a recent addition to the ballot with six seasons with Philly under his belt. The franchise acquired UPenn graduate from the Cubs for Mickey Morandini in 1997, and he hit .276 with 49 home runs. Glanville has the second-highest stolen base percentage in franchise history.
McBride is one of the few stars from the 1980 championship team not on the Wall of Fame. The outfielder hit .292 over five seasons with Philadelphia and hit better than .300 twice. In 1980 he finished 10th in the MVP race.
Polanco was very productive for Philadelphia in two stints with the club both before and during their championship runs. Acquired from the Cardinals in the Rolen trade, Polanco spent parts of fours seasons in Philadelphia before being traded to Detroit in 2005. The versatile infielder returned in 2010 to earn this third Gold Glove and second All-Star appearance.
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Polanco’s 7.0 dWAR is the 14th best in franchise history, and he received a couple of Hall of Fame votes before falling off the ballot this year.
Like McBride, Trillo is one of the stars from the 1980 club forgotten on the Wall of Fame. Known mostly for his glove Trillo won three Gold Gloves in his four seasons with Philadelphia. In 1980 he hit .292 with 41 extra base hits.
Fregosi managed the better part of six seasons for the Phils, but his only claim to fame is the 1993 pennant team. Outside of that 97 win season, Fregosi had a .458 winning percentage in Philadelphia.
Dubee is a surprising candidate on this year’s ballot, but he deserves some looks for being one of the best coaches in franchise history. He spent 12 seasons with the Phillies, 9 of which were as the pitching coach. You could say Dubee had it easy managing staffs with Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Pedro Martinez, but he helped develop young arms such as Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, and Vance Worley.
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When all is said and done this is likely a two-man race between Rolen and Abreu, and at the moment my money would be on Abreu given the fanbase’s overall appreciation of his game.