Womack: How long will Jeff Bagwell have to wait to make the Baseball Hall of Fame?
From SABR member Graham Womack at The Sporting News on December 1, 2015:
Historically, Jeff Bagwell is already an outlier in Hall of Fame voting terms. According to info culled from Baseball-Reference.com, Bagwell is one of 102 players to receive at least 50 percent of the vote in witthin his first five years on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. Not counting first ballot selections, the average player in this group has gone on to achieve the necessary 75 percent of the vote within three years of hitting 50 percent. At the moment, Gil Hodges, Mike Piazza and Bagwell are the only members of the group who aren’t enshrined.
Piazza and Bagwell debuted on the Hall of Fame ballot ahead of several great players eligible the past two elections, but where the influx has cost Bagwell votes, Piazza has steadily gained ground. Piazza received 69.9 percent of the vote last year and probably has the best shot of any candidate this year after Ken Griffey Jr. Like Bagwell, some writers have declined to vote for Piazza over speculative rumors he used steroids. But Piazza might be the best-hitting catcher in baseball history. That’ll likely be sufficient for a plaque.
Bagwell, though, has a chance to become the next Gil Hodges for Hall of Fame candidates. The Dodgers first baseman picked up votes early in his candidacy for managing the 1969 Miracle Mets and for his untimely 1972 death but languished thereafter on the ballot as numerous legendary players became eligible. Hodges finally exhausted his eligibility with the writers in 1983 and has since come close to Cooperstown with the Veterans Committee. If and when Hodges gets in is anyone’s guess.
Read the full article here: http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb-news/4662494-baseball-hall-of-fame-2016-jeff-bagwell-candidates-vote-results
- Related link: Read the SABR biography of Jeff Bagwell, by Greg Erion
Originally published: December 1, 2015. Last Updated: December 1, 2015.