Phillies legend’s Hall of Fame hopes stay alive

Phillies legend Jimmy Rollins receives enough votes to put him on Hall of Fame ballot next year

Philadelphia Phillies legend Jimmy Rollins won’t be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, but he’ll be back on the ballot again next year.

According to the Hall of Fame Tracker, Rollins has received 10.8% of the public ballots, which comprise nearly 50% of the total ballots for this year’s election. So while he’s already been mathematically eliminated from contention this year, he lives to fight another year, having received the minimum 5% needed to stay on the ballot next year.

While Rollins was never going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, he has a case to be one eventually.

The Phillies’ all-time hits leader, Rollins hit  .267/.327/.424 with a .751 OPS over 2,090 regular-season games for the Phillies. He spent 15 of his 17 big-league seasons in a Phillies uniform and helped them win their second championship in history in 2008.

Rollins’ resumé includes a Silver Slugger award, three All-Star seasons, four Gold Glove awards, and 2007 NL MVP.

While several detractors will point to Rollins’ 47.6 WAR as a reason he should not be elected, that argument is refuted by the induction of several Hall of Fame shortstops with lower career WAR, including Rabbit Maranville, Phil Rizzuto, and John Ward.

If I had a vote, Rollins would get it. In many ways, he is on par with those already enshrined. I also understand why, on a ballot teeming with obvious Hall of Famers, he isn’t getting votes. Hopefully, that changes in the coming years.