Ramirez, Varitek Highlight Hall Of Fame Ballot [VIDEO]
Former Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Orlando Cabrera, and J.D. Drew are all on the 2017 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot that was released on Monday.
19 first time eligible players are up for the call to the hall, with Ivan Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, and Ramirez having the best odds of making it to Cooperstown of that grouping. The 15 returning players are headlined by Jeff Bagwell who narrowly missed out on induction in 2016 with almost 72 percent of the vote, while Tim Raines and Trevor Hoffman also received over 60 percent last year. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are also on the list of returning players to the ballot.
The Baseball Writers Association of America members have until December 31st to submit their ballots of up to 10 players, with the announcement being made on the MLB Network on January 18th. Players need to receive 75 percent of the voting to make it into the Hall of Fame.
Returning HOF Players On Ballot
2016 voting percentage | Years on ballot | |
Jeff Bagwell | 71.6% | 6 |
Barry Bonds | 44.3% | 4 |
Roger Clemens | 45.2% | 4 |
Trevor Hoffman | 68.3% | 1 |
Jeff Kent | 16.6% | 3 |
Edgar Martinez | 43.4% | 7 |
Fred McGriff | 20.9% | 9 |
Mike Mussina | 43.0% | 3 |
Tim Raines | 69.8% | 9 |
Curt Schilling | 52.3% | 4 |
Gary Sheffield | 11.6% | 2 |
Lee Smith | 34.1% | 14 |
Sammy Sosa | 7.0% | 4 |
Billy Wagner | 10.5% | 1 |
Larry Walker | 15.5% | 6 |
1st Time HOF Eligible
Casey Blake
Pat Burrell
Orlando Cabrera
Mike Cameron
J.D. Drew
Carlos Guillen
Vladimir Guerrero
Derek Lee
Melvin Mora
Magglio Ordonez
Jorge Posada
Manny Ramirez
Edgar Renteria
Arthur Rhodes
Ivan Rodriguez
Freddy Sanchez
Matt Stairs
Jason Varitek
Tim Wakefield