Three new players got the call of a lifetime to join the greatest team of all time.
Adrian Beltré, the definition of consistent greatness and playing the game the right way throughout a 21-year major league career, was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in grand fashion with 95.1% of the votes, Tuesday night, in his first year on the ballot.
Beltré, the four-time All-Star third baseman, who was a late bloomer, getting his first All-Star nod at 31-years-of-age, hit 477 long balls and accumulated an unbelievable 3,166 hits, will be accompanied at July’s Cooperstown induction ceremony by Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer, who was narrowly elected with 76.1% of the votes, in his first appearance on the ballot, and Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton with 79.7%, and their best player in franchise history, who earned enshrinement in his sixth year of eligibility.
However, there was only a single no-doubter in this year’s voting by veteran members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Beltré, 44, was a key contributor for nearly every team that he suited up for, in a career that was launched at the tender age of 19, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and continued through time with the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers, with whom he spent the final eight seasons of his career.
Beltré was an iconic figure with the Rangers, leading them all the way to Game 7 of the 2011 Fall Classic, World Series and three more postseason berths. He wrapped up his legendary career, squeezing all the juice from his talent, leaving nothing on the table or to chance, both from a numbers standpoint, defensively and, by all accounts, as an all-around respected clubhouse presence. He was named on 366 of 385 ballots, and well above the 75% needed for election.
Embed from Getty ImagesMauer, 40, had a 50/50 chance, straddled the electoral fence as returns came ever so slowly online, and his fragmented resume left skepticism that he would earn the privilege of being a first-ballot electee. He was not a power hitter, hitting just 143 home runs in a decade and a half-long career, and spent his last five seasons at first base, where his lack of power stood out like a sore thumb.
But Mauer took home a trio of American League batting titles, leading the majors in average in both 2006 (.347) and 2009 (.365) and earned three Gold Gloves for his work behind the dish as a catcher. He won the 2009 AL MVP award after leading the AL in average, on-base and slugging, joining Ivan Pudge Rodriguez as the only catchers to earn that honor since 1976.
An unfortunate concussion ended Mauer’s catching career in 2013, and forced him into early retirement in 2018. Yet he finished with a lifetime .306 batting average and a remarkable .388 on-base percentage, accumulating 55.2 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
It was all just enough on his first attempt: Mauer received 293 votes, four more than necessary, and finished at 76.1%.
Though he was one of the decade of the 2000s most dominant clutch hitters, Helton’s case was always difficult to figure out because of where he played. The Colorado Rockie called Coors Field his home, which certainly helped in his ability to knock the cover off the ball.
He slugged 369 home runs, far off from the benchmark of 500 associated with Hall induction, especially for a first baseman. And after hitting 42 and 49 homers in back-to-back seasons, Helton never belted more than 33 in one season after the Rockies began installing baseballs in a humidor in 2002. But Helton had an elite .316/.414/.539 slash line with a .953 OPS (20th best of all time) and 133 adjusted OPS.
And for that he was ultimately rewarded: Helton was named on 79.7% of ballots, his 307 votes putting him safely past the threshold.
Helton’s 2024 performance in Hall of Fame voting marked a precipitous climb from a 16.5% debut in 2019 to a 20-point leap from 2022 to 2023’s 72.2% mark that put him on the precipice of induction.
Yet the most expected result Tuesday was delivered with authority. Beltré will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 21, along with Mauer, Helton, manager Jim Leyland (selected by committee vote), Boston Red Sox announcer Joe Castiglione and baseball writer Gerry Fraley.
Fraley, the longtime Dallas Morning News reporter, once called Beltré’s signing by the Rangers the second-most important addition in club history, behind the 1989 acquisition of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. Come July, Beltré will join Ryan in Cooperstown.
