Congratulations Scott Rolen!

As I am writing this, it has been announced that Scott Rolen will join Fred McGriff in the Hall of Fame election class of 2023.  It is well-deserved and has been a long time coming.  Rolen was a spectacular defensive third-baseman who was a pretty good hitter as well.  Rolen hit .281/.364/.490 with 316 home runs and 1,287 RBIs in 17 seasons with the Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Reds.  He won the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1997 and was an All Star seven times.  He won one Silver Slugger and eight Gold Gloves.  I am predicting a Phillies cap on Rolen's plaque.

As some may recall, I made some predictions about the Hall of Fame vote.  Let's see how those went.

1.  I predicted Scott Rolen would be the only player elected.  I was correct.

2.  I predicted a big gain for Jeff Kent, but that he would fall short.  I was correct.  Kent went from being on 32.7% of ballots to 46.5%.  That is a huge gain.  Unfortunately, it came in his final year on the ballot and he will drop off the ballot.  That is a shame.  I think he belongs in.

3.  I predicted big gains for Todd Helton, Billy Wagner and Andruw Jones and that they would position themselves for possible election soon.  Helton just missed election, going from 52% to 72.2%.  Wagner went from 51% to 68.1%.  Jones went from 41.4% to 58.1%.  Those are all big gains.  Time will tell if they get elected in the next couple of years, but Helton should get in next year.  Wagner could sneak in as well.  Jones may have to wait a couple more years because there will be a lot of big names added to the ballot the next few years.

4.  I predicted modest gains for Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez.  Ramirez went from 28.9% to 33.2%.  Rodriguez went from 34.3% to 35.7%.  Ramirez gained more than Rodriguez, but neither is anywhere close to election.  And thanks to their PED suspensions, it is extremely unlikely they will be elected by the BBWAA.  

5.  I said Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez would be the only newcomers to stay on the ballot.  That came true.  Beltran received 46.5% in a decent showing for his first year.  Rodriguez received 10.8%.  I also predicted that none of the other newcomers would receive a single vote.  This did not happen.  Bronson Arroyo, R.A. Dickey, John Lackey, Mike Napoli and Huston Street each received one vote.  The others, including Jacoby Ellsbury, did not receive any votes.