Hall of Fame

We have three inductees, all of whom managed the minimum 2/3 of the vote needed for GUSSOMO Hall of Fame enshrinement.

Jim Thome - After six years on the ballot, Thome gets in. We have an incomplete record of his time in GUSSOMO, only having the second half of his career recorded, and missing some of his peak years. What we do have are 2002-2013 stats that show 345 home runs and an OPS over .950, including a 299-62-141 season in 2003 that is indicative of what peak Thome's output looked like.

Joe Mauer - This one was a surprise for me, but the voters elected Mauer in his first season on the ballot. We do have Mauer's full career, which includes 2,125 hits and a lifetime .301 batting average. He consistently posted .300+ batting averages and .400+ on base percentages until the last few years of his career, and that unmatched offense at a premium position was enough to get Mauer in.

Francisco Rodriguez - Only the second closer to be elected after Mariano Rivera, Rodriguez also had a long wait of six years to get into the Hall of Fame. K-Rod racked up 350 career saves, and managed to stay in the closer role for the entirety of his GUSSOMO career, not always a given when teams have multiple options in the late innings. Remarkably, Rodriguez had 350 saves, along wiht a 33-56 record in 732 appearances, so he notched a save or got a decision in 60% of the games he appeared in over his entire career.

CC Sabathia - 53%

Billy Wagner - 53%

Trevor Hoffman - 47%

Jimmy Rollins - 47%

Carlos Beltran - 33%

Manny Ramirez - 33%

Don Sutton - 33%

Roy Oswalt - 27%

A number of players failed to collect at least the three votes needed to stay on the ballot for another season. Mercifully, we only have one big steroid case - Manny Ramirez, left on the ballot, with Bonds and Clemens getting induction in previous years and A-Rod falling off of the ballot this year after previously peaking with 61% of the vote the previous season.

Big surprise for me was Chipper Jones only getting one vote and dropping off of the ballot as well, but an incomplete statistical record may have had something to do with it.

Dan Haren - two votes

Alex Rodriguez - two votes

Chipper Jones - one vote

Jon Lester - one vote

Edwin Encarnacion - no votes

Joakim Soria - no votes

Albert Pujols, with 3,184 career hits and 699 home runs, arrives on the ballot next year!

PITCHERS

HITTERS
 

2021 HALL OF FAME VOTING and RESULTS
2 NEW MEMBERS BECOME HALL OF FAMERS!!

NEW INDUCTIONS

Ichiro Suzuki (89% of votes)

A true hit machine, Ichiro played for 19 seasons in GUSSOMO, compiling 2,645 hits. Tough to make an All-Star team when there are only two spots for right fielders in a 24-team league, and Ichirio didn't have the prototypical skills (HR power) favored by the Strat-o-Matic All Star algorithm, but he did win two Gold Gloves and finish among the league leaders in batting average 4 time. His 558 stolen bases put him among the leaders in recorded GUSSOMO history. Ichiro's best season came in 2005 when he hit a remarkable 385/421/495.

Chipper Jones (67% of votes)

We only have the second half of Chipper's career on record, but it was strong enough, and voters were able to infer enough about the beginning of his career to put him into the HOF. An OBP and power threat right up to the end of his career, Chipper was a steady performer with some gem seasons mixed in from 2002-2013. The first season we have for Chipper, 2002, is the best on record, speaking to us missing the best he offered. In 2002, Chipper went off at a 314/409/639 clip, with 48 home runs and 144 RBI. But some later seasons like 2006 (299/394/593) and back-to-back monsters in 2008 and 2009 (319/423/574 followed by 341/439/578) were big contributions to his overall numbers as well.

2020 HALL OF FAME VOTING and RESULTS

The votes are in! Meet your new Hall of Famers!

NEW INDUCTIONS

A 2/3 majority is needed for a candidate to get into the GUSSOMO Hall of Fame, and FIVE candidates on our ballot made the cut this year!

• Vladimir Guerrero (88%) - we have Vlad's entire career on record, and it was a shorter career by modern standards - only 15 seasons. In those 15 seasons, Guerrero cranked out over 2,500 hits and 466 home runs and slashed an impressive 301/352/529 over his career. He also was selected as an All-Star three times (not easy to do when there are only two All-Stars for your position in a 24-team league, and it's a loaded position!), to go with two Silver Slugger selections.

• Roy Halladay (81%) - similar to Guerrero, in that he had a shorter career. Unlike Guerrero, we don't have the first few seasons of Halladay's career on record (13 recorded seasons total), but we do have his most meaningful seasons. At 182-106, Halladay's .632 winning percentage ranks as one of the highest among our Hall of Famers. His Cy Young win and two All-Star nominations are accompanied by an impressive resume atop the GUSSOMO leaderboards: six times among the league leaders in ERA, and four times among the league leaders in wins and strikeouts.

• David Ortiz (75%) - Ortiz becomes the third member of the 500 home run club, joining Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas, to make the GUSSOMO Hall of Fame. Ortiz has some interesting career accomplishments due to him spending most of his time as a designated hitter. In the Strato-O-Matic software, there are no All-Star berths for a DH, so Ortiz is the only player to win an MVP without also being selected as an All-Star. Ortiz's .553 slugging percentage is second among Hall of Famers, a hair behind Griffey's .560 mark. And while he only has two All-Star selections due to the aforementioned Strat-O-Matic idiosyncrasy, he won the league's Most Valuable Player twice, and was among the league leaders in home runs eight times.

• Adrian Beltre (69%) - Beltre just squeaked into the Hall of Fame on the strength of a long and consistent career. Known for his defensive excellence, Beltre only won a single Gold Glove in GUSSOMO (again, hard to do when there is only one Gold Glove for 24 teams), and made two All-Star teams. He shows up multiple times in the league leaders for batting average, home runs, and RBI, including one near triple-crown season. Beltre ranks second among elected Hall of Famers with 2,632 career hits.

• Derek Jeter (69%) - of all of the elected Hall of Famers, Jeter suffers the most from lost statistics. We only have 14 seasons of Jeter's career, and the lost seasons include a big piece of his prime. Even so, in those 14 seasons we do have, Jeter accumulated 2,359 hits, was among the league leaders in batting average four times, and was selected as an All-Star three times. It's easy to extrapolate his career and assume that Jeter amassed well over 3,000 hits during his complete GUSSOMO career.

• Barry Bonds (63%) - 862 career home runs, 3,093 career hits, one vote short. I'm sure much to the consternation of 63% of the voters, and much to the delight of 37% of the voters.

• Chipper Jones (63%) - Chipper really suffers from lost stats. One player where we're clearly missing his best years. He still came just one vote short of election.

• Don Sutton (63%) - only nine seasons on record, in which he averaged almost 19 wins per season. Wasn't quite enough. Also missed by one vote!

• Alex Rodriguez (56%) - another player who is missing most of his very best seasons from the historical record, which makes his 504 career home runs all the more impressive. Doesn't seem like him missing out on election has anything to do with the numbers!

• Manny Ramirez (56%) - similar to A-Rod, his best seasons are missing from the historical record. Not similar to A-Rod, the numbers we do have on record are less impressive.

• Trevor Hoffman (56%) - Hoffman garnered the most votes of all of the closers on the ballot, despite having the least compelling case if you look at the on-record statistics. It appears voters were going off of his reputation and some assumptions about the seasons we don't have stats for with their voting here.

• Tim Raines (38%) - Raines stays on the ballot, but is not gaining ground. We have 10 seasons on record for Raines, but two of those seasons were at the end of his career when he didn't play. If you look at the eight seasons where he did play that we know about, he averaged 75 stolen bases to go with a .380 OBP and pretty good power for a leadoff man (.464 slugging).

• Jim Thome (38%) - similar to Chipper and Manny in that we don't have stats for many of his best seasons, but there was less appetite from voters to put votes his way than there was for the other two players.

• Billy Wagner (38%) - one of the most prolific strikeout artists ever. Many of our closers saw their career save totals diminished due to managers not using them as closers in some seasons, and that applies to Wagner, who had 188 saves in 10 seasons on record.

• Bartolo Colon (31%) - some of his best seasons are lost to history, but thanks to the fact that he pitched into his forties, we still have 18 seasons of Bartolo Colon that we do have stats for. With Halladay's enshrinement and Tim Hudson falling off the ballot, Colon has the most recorded wins of any pitcher remaining on the ballot.

• Francisco Rodriguez (31%) - second all-time in GUSSOMO in saves that we know about with 350, Rodriguez wasn't able to get as many votes as a couple of the other closers on the ballot.

• Joe Nathan (31%) - as statistically dominant as any of the relievers on the ballot, Nathan was a perennial league leader in saves: he showed up on the leaderboard seven times in his career.

• Jonathan Papelbon (31%) - Papelbon did Nathan one better, showing up on the league.
  leaderboard for saves eight times. He also received the most All-Star nominations of all of the relievers on the ballot, being selected as an All-Star four times.

• Tim Hudson (13%) - Hudson had an almost identical win total to Halladay, who cruised into Hall of Fame election, but his rate stats were not nearly as impressive, and while he did make three All-Star appearances, he lacked the dominance of other pitchers on the ballot.

• Bobby Abreu (6%) - with over 2,300 hits and his 420 stolen bases making him one of the recorded All-Time leaders in stolen bases, Abreu had a real case at the Hall of Fame, but the voters saw him as just a step below players who had similar hit totals. Abreu did make a couple of All-Star appearances, but failed to reach the leaderboards as much as some of his contemporaries.

2017 HALL OF FAME VOTING and RESULTS

The voting is in! We have two new inductees this year!

WADE BOGGS, 3B (69% of the vote)
 

We have incomplete stats for Boggs - only 10 seasons - but in those 10 seasons, he did what was known to do: pile up hits and walks. From 1983 to 1992, Boggs had 1,871 career hits to go with 833 walks. Over those 10 years, he sported a 328/414/459 slash line.

CURT SCHILLING, RHP (69% of the vote)
 

We've got numbers for Schilling all the way back to 1991 (thanks Larry!). Schilling appeared to be a much more borderline candidate, and it took the voters 5 years to induct him. His body of work is impressive, with a 203-154 record and 3,076 career strikeouts.

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES AND STAYING ON THE BALLOT


Vladimir Guerrero (63%)
Mike Schmidt (63%) 
Tim Raines (56%)
Barry Bonds (56%)
Derek Jeter (44%)
Chipper Jones (44%)
Manny Ramirez (44%)
Jim Thome (44%)
Roy Hallady (50%)
Trevor Hoffman (44%)
Don Sutton (38%)
Joe Nathan (25%)
Roy Oswalt (25%)
Billy Wagner (25%)

FALLING OFF THE BALLOT

Adam Dunn (6%)
Mark Buehrle (6%)

2016 HALL OF FAME VOTING and RESULTS

Welcome to TWO new Hall of Fame inductees!

(See the details below)

I've also attached the Hall of Fame tracking spreadsheet. Note the HOF Watch! tab. If you have any additional players you'd like to see added to that for lifetime tracking of their ongoing Hall of Fame candidacy, let me know and I'll add them in there. That sheet has now been updated to include the completed 2016 stats, and the Awards tab also includes the 2016 awards.

Before getting to the Hall of Famers, a few notes from the active players:
 

- Elvis Andrus passed 1,000 hits

- Carlos Beltran passed 350 home runs

- Adrian Beltre passed 350 home runs

- Jay Bruce passed 1,000 hits and 200 home runs

- Asdrubal Cabrera passed 1,000 hits

- Miguel Cabrera passed 400 home runs

- Robinson Cano passed 2,000 hits

- Jacoby Ellsbury passed 1,000 hits

- Prince Fielder passed 300 home runs

- Nick Markakis passed 1,500 hits

- Victor Martinez passed 1,500 hits

- Andrew McCutchen passed 1,000 hits

- Dustin Pedroia passed 1,500 hits and 100 home runs

- Mark Teixeira passed 300 home runs

- Chase Utley passed 1,500 hits

- Zack Grienke passed 150 wins

- Dan Haren passed 150 wins and 2,000 strikeouts

- Felix Hernandez passed 2,000 strikeouts

- Clayton Kershaw passed 100 wins and 1,500 strikeouts

- Jonathan Papelbon passed 300 saves

- Francisco Rodriguez passed 300 saves

- CC Sabathia passed 2,500 strikeouts

- Justin Verlander passed 150 wins

Now, read on to find out who the two new Hall of Famers are!
 

IVAN RODRIGUEZ - With 2,472 career hits, a .273 career batting average, and a -5 catcher arm, Pudge Rodriguez gets into the Hall of Fame with an even 75% of the votes!

MARIANO RIVERA - We have stats for Rivera going back to 2002, but in that time, he amassed 321 saves to go with a 2.15 ERA and microscopic .928 WHIP. Having a reputation as the greatest relief pitcher of all time helps, too!
 

RECEIVING VOTES AND STAYING ON THE BALLOT

Wade Boggs - 67%

Barry Bonds - 67%

Vladimir Guerrero - 50%

Tim Raines - 50%

Mike Schmidt - 50%

Curt Schilling - 50%

Trevor Hoffman - 42%

Roy Halladay - 33%

Don Sutton - 33%
Chipper Jones - 33%
Jim Thome - 33%
Manny Ramirez - 25%
Roy Oswalt - 25%

Billy Wagner - 25%

FALLING OFF THE BALLOT
 

Paul Konerko

Scott Rolen

Michael Young

PREVIOUS VOTING and RESULTS

2013 VOTING RESULTS

Thanks to those of you who voted in our second election! The ballots are in, votes have been counted, and our Hall of Fame has two new inductees! See below. All of the details are in the attached spreadsheet as well.

NEW INDUCTEES

ROBERTO ALOMAR, 2B, Seattle Pilots
We have stats for Robbie Alomar from 1995-2004, and those stats illustrate the all-around star that we remember from his playing days: a 296/369/450 career slash line, 1,562 hits, 148 home runs, 211 stolen bases, 606 career walks, and he was a strong 1 at 2B for most of his career. Alomar is the second Pilot to make it into the hall, joining inaugural Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr.

RICKEY HENDERSON, OF, San Jose Sultans
We don't have much in the way of Gussomo stats for the greatest leadoff hitter of all time. Just some incomplete numbers from the 1981-1984 seasons, and a couple of partial seasons in 2002-2003 right at the end of his career. Here's what we do know: in those seasons we do have a record for, essentially four complete seasons in his prime, Rickey stole 516 bases. That means he AVERAGED almost 130 stolen bases per season!! Between that and the fact that he is remembered as the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of baseball, it was enough to get him elected!

REMAINING ON THE BALLOT

HITTERS

Barry Bonds - 65%
Vladimir Guerrero - 65%
Wade Boggs - 47%
Tim Raines - 47%
Ivan Rodriguez - 47%
Mike Schmidt - 47%
Manny Ramirez - 41%
George Brett - 35%

PITCHERS
Roger Clemens - 71%
Curt Schilling - 65%
Don Sutton - 35%
Trevor Hoffman - 29%
Billy Wagner - 29%
Javier Vazquez - 18%

In general, the voting population this year was much stingier with its votes than last year. Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling, and Roger Clemens - who fell just one vote shy of election - increased their vote totals. Every other player returning to the ballot decreased. This includes Ivan Rodriguez and his 2,472 career hits and reputation as one of the greatest defensive catchers in the history of baseball, and Trevor Hoffman, who fell from 63% of the vote and near election last year to 29% of the vote this year. It was a strong first ballot showing from Vladimir Guerrero (2,561 hits, 466 HR, 179 SB) who garnered 65% of the vote. On the flip side of Guerrero, Javier Vazquez maintained a spot on the ballot by a thread, getting the bare three votes he needed to stay on.

FALLING OFF THE BALLOT
Jeff Bagwell
Jay Buhner
Tom Glavine
John Olerud
Rafael Palmeiro
Jorge Posada
Dan Quisenberry
Alan Trammell

Rafael Palmeiro and his 450 recorded home runs fell from 32% of the vote to off the ballot in his second season. Ditto for John Olerud and his 2,244 career hits, 1,140 career walks, and .381 career OBP. We only have stats from 2002 on for Jorge Posada, but he still logged 223 career home runs to go with two All-Star appearances and two Silver Sluggers. That was good for 6% of the vote. Needless to say, the voters were very tough!

POSSIBLE ADDITIONS TO THE BALLOT NEXT YEAR

A sneak peek at some players who may be getting nominations for next year's ballot below!

Carlos Baerga
Chris Carpenter
Nomar Garciaparra
Roy Halladay
Mike Hampton
Todd Helton
Jeff Kent
Derrek Lee
Ted Lilly
Magglio Ordonez
Scott Rolen
Nolan Ryan
Kazuhiro Sasaki
Tom Seaver
Jim Thome
Larry Walker
Bernie Williams

 

                         ("Hey Roger... how'd you get a key?)


In testifying before the grand jury, Bonds claimed he didn't realize substances he used were illegal performance-enhancing drugs. The appellate judges based their decision on legal issues involving witness testimony, not the underlying facts.

Despite holding the career and season home run marks - he hit a single-year record 73 in 2001 - Bonds has been denied entry into baseball's Hall of Fame by baseball writers. He appeared on 36.8 percent of ballots this year, less than half the 75 percent needed.

''I think sadly his reputation has been tarnished, not because of the indictment or the reversal, but because of all the PED use,'' former baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent said. ''I think the public has made up its mind.''

Roger Clemens, whose pitching feats were as accomplished as Bonds' batting achievements, also has been denied Hall entry. Clemens was acquitted in 2012 of criminal charges he lied to Congress when he denied using PEDs.

Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, called the decision ''almost meaningless for the real issue, which is whether he used performance-enhancing drugs to cheat the fans of baseball.''

''I think at the end of the day America knows the truth and who the real home run record holder is, who did it the right way, and it's obviously not Barry Bonds,'' he said.