Chipper received 97.2% of the votes for hall induction, and rightfully so.His career accomplishments are pretty impressive. He was an eight time all star for the National League, winning two Silver Slugger awards (1999 and 2000) and was voted National League MVP in 1999. He's got a World Series ring to his credit too, winning in 1995 with the Atlanta Braves, with his number 10 being retired by the Braves in 2013. In 19 years in the Majors, Chipper played in 2,499 games, collecting 2,726 hits, smacking 468 home runs, driving in 1,623 runs and finished his career as a .303 hitter. He has driven in more runs then any other third baseman in the game and had the second most RBI ever for a switch hitter (only Eddie Murphy drove in more runs as a switch hitter). Chipper is the only switch-hitter with at least 1,000 at-bats and a .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage. He never won a gold glove award at third, but he still was no slouch playing at the hot corner. Whenever people mention the name Chipper Jones, it brings up memories. If you mention the name in New York, it causes a different reaction as he killed the Mets during the course of his career and he was a big reason why the Braces won the NL East for 14 years in a row.
The other infielder you have in this years class is Jim Thome, who received 89.8% of the votes for induction. Thome played 22 years in the Majors. played for a few different teams, like the White Sox, Twins, Dodgers, Orioles and Phillies, but everybody is going to remember him for his time as a member of the Cleveland Indians. Thome played in 2,543 games, collecting 2,328 hits, while blasting 612 home runs and driving in 1,699 runs and finished his career with a .276 batting average. Thome was an all star five times, won a Silver Slugger in 1996, as well as AL Comeback PLayer of the year in 2006 and was inducted into both the Indians and Phillies Halls of Fame. When Jim Thome gets talked about, its because the guy was one of the great offensive threats in the game during his hayday. He was known for getting a lot of power behind his swings and because he was such a pull hitter, teams used the left shift against him, which usually had three infielders on the right side of the diamond against him. He was just a good hitter and had that aura around him that he could crank one out of the park at will almost. He was that good of a hitter.
The outfielder in this group is Vladimir Guerrero, who got into the hall after earning 929% of the votes. Vlad spent 16 years in the Majors, playing for Texas and Baltimore at the end of his career, but it is mostly known for his playing time with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Montreal Expos. Vlad played in 2,147 games, collecting 2,590 hits, while smacking 449 home runs and drove in 1,496 runs, and finished his career with a .318 batting average. Vlad was a nine time all star and an eight time winner of the Silver Slugger award. He also won MVP of the American League in 2004. He was known in the field for having good range, playing stellar defense, and a strong throwing arm, which he showed off regularly. As good as that is, and it was very good, Vlad will always be known for what he did at the plate. He will go in the books as the best bad ball hitter ever. He had a skill that nobody else really had, being able to hit a ball that was anywhere near the plate, whether it was a strike or not. This point was made evident on August 14, 2009, when Guerrero hit a pitch which bounced in front of home plate. Vlad was able to hit 30 or more home runs eight times and drove in over 100 runs ten times. He wasn't as good a power hitter as Thome but that's OK, he still had solid power to his game.
Last, but not least is Trevor Hoffman, who got in on 79.9% of the ballots. He played 18 years in the Majors, two with the Brewers after his first 16 were spent with the Padres. Hoffman appeared in 1,035 games, finishing with a 61-75 record, a 2.87 ERA, 1,133 strikeouts and 601 career saves. Hoffman was named an all star seven times, twice lead the National League in saves and was twice named the Rolaids Relief Man of the year (1998 and 2006 for both of those accomplishments). Hoffman joins Goose Gossage, Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, and Bruce Sutter as the now fifth reliever to ever be inducted into the Hall. He had a great variety of stuff out there on the mound and worked harder then almost anybody in the game in order to stay at the top of his game. The only pitcher in baseball history that has more saves then Hoffman is Mariano Rivera
Now there is some debate about the guys who have yet to get induction into the hall. Of course, there's still going to be debate about three really big names, like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling. The argument can be made for all three guys for what they did early on in their careers, before the steroid allegations came down. They had the tools and the numbers to back it up. They were never caught, which is why they are still placed so highly on the ballots every year. I know they all have stated that they didn't do anything but a picture is worth a thousand words and look at those guys from early on in their careers and what they looked like near the end of their playing days and tell us that they aren't on something.
One guy who got left out this year but should already be in is Edgar Martinez.Edgar has over 2,200 hits and smacked over 300 home runs in his career and yet still isn't in the Hall. I think the biggest knock against him was that he was a career designated hitter, which could be the biggest thing against him, which isn't exactly fair. I've always said it depends on who Edgar is on the ballot with to determine if he gets in or not. The fact that he still isn't in yet is a bit of a shame really.
So there you have it. The Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2018!
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