Congratulations Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame

Congratulation to the three newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent were inducted into the Hall yesterday afternoon. When the three were officially elected in January, I had doubts about the credentials of Jones and Kent. But, after reading more about them and their lifetime statistics, I'm convinced they do belong in the Hall and the Baseball Writers Association knows a lot more than I do. Congratulations are also in order for Joe Buck and Paul Hoynes. Buck is the 2026 winner of the Ford Frick broadcaster award. Hoynes is the winner of the J. G. Taylor Spink writer award.

I saw Beltrán, Jones and Kent all play in person. I also listened to Joe Buck call St. Louis Cardinal games on the radio. He started his career with his father, Jack Buck who won the Frick Award in 1987. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to read Hoynes' work. But seeing his introduction and speech on Saturday makes me wish I had, during some of the Indians/Guardian seasons. Rather than recap their careers I will leave you with memories of the three players and their acceptance speeches.

I remember Carlos Beltrán from his days with the Mets in the mid 2000s. My strongest memory of him was not a shining moment for him. Instead, I remember him at the plate for the Mets in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series. He came to the plate with the bases loaded and two out. Then Cardinal closer Adam Wainwright struck out Beltrán on three pitches to secure the game for the St. Louisans. On the final pitch of the game, Wainwright threw a filthy curveball that froze Beltrán and sent the Cardinals on to the World Series. You can watch Beltrán's acceptance speech here on YouTube.

Initially, l did have doubts about his credentials in getting him into the Hall. But, after looking at Jones' career aggregate stats, he belongs in Cooperstown. If nothing else his WAR rating is better than a lot of others in the Hall, including his teammate in Atlanta Fred McGriff. And to top it off Jones is in the top 50 all time home run hitters. I count myself luck to have seen him play against the St. Louis Cardinals frequently at Busch Stadium II from the mid 90s to mid 00s. View Jone's induction speech here.

Jeff Kent was a clutch hitter. It seemed like every time I had a chance to watch him play in person in St. Louis he would destroy Cardinals pitching and was on base every time you looked up. He hit more homeruns than anyone else to play second base in the history of the game. They've been playing professional baseball for 157 years. His 377 dingers is the gold standard at second base. Add a 17-year career OPS of .855 and a WAR rating of 55.4 and he is certainly a Hall of Famer. Kent's speech is also available on YouTube.

Joe Buck and Paul Hoynes had their own awards ceremony the day before the player induction ceremonies in the city of Cooperstown. Hoyne's acceptance speech for the Spink Award can be seen here. Buck's acceptance speech for the Frick Award can be viewed here.

Congratulations to the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024

Adrian Beltré, Todd Helton, Jim Leyland and Joe Mauer are the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Each of these players was inducted in front of an audience of 28,000 at the Hall in Cooperstown, NY.

Adrian Beltré played for the Dodgers, Mariners, Red Sox and Rangers. I saw him play in person at Busch Stadium II in the early 2000s and then watched him again play for the Rangers in the 2011 World Series. I did not score tickets for the games but watched him on TV from home and saw him hit .300 with two home runs in the seven game series. My beloved Cardinals won that series 4-3.  Click here to view Beltré's induction speech.

Todd Helton played his entire career with the Rockies and I was fortunate enough to see him play against the Cardinals a couple of times.  First at Busch II and the second time at Busch III later in his career.  For so many years the Rockies struggled and they were not one of my top choices when I got tickets for Cardinal games. But, I saw him in 2000 (arguably the best year of his career) on a Saturday afternoon in April. I don't remember him having a good day, but in looking the game up on the Internet he did drive in a run on a sacrifice fly. I also saw him later in his career in I believe it was 2011. I don't remember him doing anything special that day, but he always played a great third base as evidenced by his three Gold Gloves.  You may click here to view Helton's induction speech.

Jim Leyland managed the Pirates, Marlins, Rockies and Tigers.  He was always one of my favorites and I was privileged to see him  manage on many occasions with the Pirates. Leyland won three divisional championships while in Pittsburgh but lost to the Atlanta Braves in 90, 91 & 92. Those were some great Braves teams led by an always awesome pitching staff.  After the Pirates, Leyland managed the then Florida Marlins to a World Series Championship in 1997. He led the Marlins to a seven game win over the then Cleveland Indians. The following year the Marlins were terrible winning only 54 games after the team's ownership traded away all of the club's talent. Leyland left and went to Colorado in 1999 where he managed for one year. Interestingly enough, Leyland managed Todd Helton while he was in Denver.  After his Rockies gig, Leyland went to work for the St. Louis Cardinals as a special scout at the request of fellow Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa. Leyland then went back to managing in 2006 guiding the Tigers to the World Series before losing to the Cardinals. Later in 2011, 2012 & 2013 the Tigers made the post-season.  In 2012 The Tigers under Leyland's guidance made it to the World Series again, only to be swept by the Giants. Please click here to view Leyland's induction speech into the Hall.

Joe Mauer, because he played in the American League, was one of those guys I didn't follow that closely. I only saw him play in person one time on June 16, 2015. I still have the ticket stub to the game hanging on my "wall of tickets".  In that Tuesday afternoon game Mauer went 0-4 and played 1B.  To be honest I was surprised when he was elected to the Hall of Fame. But, he was the top catcher in the American League for over a decade and won the MVP award in 2009.  He had a career lifetime batting average of .306 and a WAR of 55.2. Mauer also played on six American League All-Star teams and won five Silver Slugger awards. When viewed against the numbers of other HOF catchers, Mauer is extremely deserving of his selection to the Hall of Fame.  You may follow this link to see Mauer's induction speech into the Hall of Fame.

All of the induction speeches were good and each is worth watching. Congratulations once again to Mr. Helton, Mr. Beltré, Mr. Leyland and Mr. Mauer!

Congratulations to the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2023

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York expanded its list of players by two this past Sunday afternoon.  Inducted into the Hall were Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen.

I Consider myself fortunate to have seen Rolen play for the Cardinals at Busch II and the new St. Louis stadium that opened in 2006.  He was a key to the Cards National League title in 2004 and the Birds run to the World Series championship in 2006.

Rolen played for four major league teams during his 19 year career but note he's wearing a Cardinal cap on his HOF plaque.

The Baseball Writers Association of American selected McGriff, who was a unanimous choice of the Hall's Contemporary Baseball Players Era Committee, in December.  I saw McGriff play  in person on many occasions during his career when he would come to St. Louis as a member of the Padres, Braves, Cubs and later the Dodgers.

I particularly remember the 1996 NLCS series in which McGriff played a key role in the Braves win and return to the World Series.  It seemed as if McGriff was at the plate whenever runners were in scoring position.  He homered twice in the seven game series and drove in seven runs with an .858 OPS.  McGriff also destroyed the Cardinals in the last three games of the NLCS that year in which Atlanta outscored St. Louis 32-1.

Images courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Chicago Cubs announcer Pat Hughes was also inducted into the Hall of Fame Broadcasters wing as the 2023 Ford C. Frick Award winner.  He was joined in the Hall's Writer's Wing at the Cooperstown festivities by John Lowe who received the Baseball Writers Association of America's Career Excellence Award.

Congratulations Simba!

Photo Courtesy ESPN.com

Former St. Louis Cardinal catcher Ted Simmons is finally in the baseball Hall of Fame.  Simmons was elected to the Hall this past week by the 16 member Modern Baseball Era committee.

Simmons played 21 years in the "show" with 13 of them in St. Louis, five in Milwaukee and the final three years with the Atlanta Braves.  Simmons retired after the 1988 season but was snubbed repeatedly by baseball writers.  But, this past Sunday night Simmons received the recognition he has long deserved.  He played in eight All-Star games during his career and ended up with a .285 lifetime average, 248 homers and 1389 RBI.  Granted those numbers are not overly impressive for outfielders and corner infielders, but for a catcher they are very good and compare favorably with other catchers who have been selected to the Hall of Fame.

I had the chance to watch Simmons in person on numerous occasions during the 70's.  I remember Simmons as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise crappy lineup.  He hit over .300 on five occasions during the decade.  Congratulations Ted Simmons!

Simmons will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 26, 2020 in Cooperstown, New York.  In addition Marvin Miller, who was a labor executive in the same era that Simmons played, will also be inducted along with the class of 2020 which will be selected in January.