Baseball Hall Makes Call

We have reached that time of the year. The Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2024 has been announced. Three guys have gotten the call they've been waiting for and are getting into the hall this year. Catcher Joe Maur, 1st Baseman Todd Helton and third baseman Adrian Beltre are getting induction into Cooperstown later this summer.

Lets start with the guys who got in. Joe Mauer got in on his first year on the ballot, having played his entire 15 year career in Minnesota. .306 lifetime hitter, three batting titles, AL MVP in 2009. Finished his career with 2,123 hits. Was never much in the way of the power department as the other two guys his going in with, but man could this guy hit. Never really drove in a high number of runs, as his career best was 96 the year he won MVP. He finished with 923 RBI in his career and managed to score 1,018 runs. He could do it all pretty much at the plate, and behind it too, for the Twins.

Next we have Todd Helton. Played his entire 17 year career i He also played in four all star games, was a five time gold glove winner and won four silver slugger awards.n Colorado, playing over one hundred games in all but three seasons. He finished his career playing in 2,247 games, collecting 2,519 hits, 369 home runs and 1,406 RBI and a .316 lifetime batting average. He had five straight seasons in the heart of his career with 100 or more RBI, seven straight 20 or more home runs, including six straight of 30 or more. Helton played in five all star games, won three gold gloves and four silver sluggers, as well as the NL batting title in 2000, the year he hit .372. With the exception of triples and steals, Helton holds every major offensive career record for the Rockies. The guy has been the face of the Rockies franchise since coming into the league and carried that team at times. He's going to go down in the books as the best player Colorado ever had. It was Helton's sixth try getting into the Hall.

Finally, getting in on his first year on the ballot, was third baseman Adrian Beltre. Beltre played 21 years in the Majors, split between Texas (8 years), Los Angeles (7 years), Seattle (5 years) and Boston (1 year). He played in 2,933 games, collecting 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and 1,707 RBIs. He finished his career as a .286 lifetime hitter. Beltre is considered one of the great power hitters to ever swing from 3rd base. Man could he hit. In the field, he may not have had the most orthodox playing style, but he was good enough to win five gold gloves in his career.

Of note of guys that are now off the ballot next year is Garry Sheffield, who failed to reach the 75% needed for induction on his final year on there. The only other first year guys to stay on the ballot for next year were Chase Utley and David Wright. The biggest name to headline the first year eligible next year is Ichiro.