Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer are headed to Cooperstown.
The Baseball Writers Affiliation of America voted the three stars into the Corridor of Fame immediately, with two of them showing on the poll for the primary time.
Beltré, who performed for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Purple Sox and Texas Rangers, garnered essentially the most votes, receiving 95.1 p.c. He obtained the third highest proportion of votes for third basemen, behind solely George Brett (98.2 p.c in 1999) and Mike Schmidt (96.5 p.c in 1995).
Beltré didn’t seem like on a Corridor of Fame monitor till his 30s. However 5 Golden Gloves, 4 Silver Slugger awards, 3,166 hits, 477 homers, and 1,707 RBI have been what obtained him elected in his first go-around.
Helton made it to Cooperstown after 5 years on the poll. The primary baseman obtained 79.7 p.c of votes after narrowly lacking the required 75 p.c threshold final yr. Recognized greatest for his batting prowess from the late Nineteen Nineties to early 2000s, Helton was plagued for years by the concept that his numbers have been inflated by enjoying within the skinny air of Coors Discipline. Helton, who spent his complete profession with the Colorado Rockies, received a batting title in 2000 and the House Run Derby in 2001. He was a four-time Silver Slugger as properly.
Mauer, a local of St. Paul, Minnesota, was taken first general within the newbie draft by his hometown workforce in 2001 and received the American League MVP with the Twins in 2009.
Mauer primarily served as Minnesota’s catcher, successful three batting titles on the place. A concussion in 2013 brought about him to maneuver to first base, the place he spent the following 5 seasons. Receiving 76.1 p.c of the votes, Mauer was elected in his first yr on the poll and is the third catcher to take action after Johnny Bench and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.
Reliever Billy Wagner got here up quick, getting 73.8 p.c of the vote in his ninth yr on the poll. Gary Sheffield missed the minimize in his ultimate look on the poll — the slugger obtained 63.9 p.c of votes — and should must depend on the Veteran’s Committee to induct him.
Many have questioned if Sheffield deserves a spot in Cooperstown after being implicated as a person of efficiency enhancing medicine through the BALCO scandal. He hit 509 residence runs in 22 seasons.
