Congratulations to the 2025 Hall of Fame Class

My predictions this year were pretty much spot-on.  It helps that I already saw several weeks worth of ballots, so I am not giving myself too much credit.  As I said in the last post, I may not have picked Sabathia to get in on his first ballot at the beginning of the voting cycle. 

So, anyway, congratulations to Ichiro Suzuki, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner.  Wagner is the big one for the purpose of this blog since he is the only one to have played for the Red Sox.  I will have a Red Sox in Cooperstown post for him at some point later on.  Usually after there has been an announcement of which hat he will wear on his plaque.  It's almost for certain going to be the Astros, but I still want to know for sure (no, I am not suggesting there is even a chance of a Red Sox hat, I am not delusional).  

Let's look at the other former Red Sox on the ballot:

Manny Ramirez finished eighth on the ballot with 34.3% of the vote.  He added ten votes from last year.  He will be entering his 10th and final year on the ballot next year.  At this point there is no chance of election by the BBWAA.  The two PED suspensions have ensured that.

Dustin Pedroia's results actually surprised me.  I thought he would get enough to stick on the ballot, but he finished with 11.9% of the vote.  He actually finished higher than Wagner did on his first two years on the ballot.  He received 47 votes in his first year on the ballot.  I think there is a good possibility for him building support over time.  Maybe it will even get him in at some time.

Ian Kinsler fell about ten votes shy of sticking on the ballot.  I think he is one of the biggest snubs on this ballot (along with Brian McCann).  Kinsler received just 2.5% of the vote and will not appear on future ballots.  

Hanley Ramirez failed to receive a single vote.  This is kind of shocking to me.  I feel like his career was kind of a flash in the pan, but he was so phenomenal his first few seasons in the Majors.  That player disappeared as his career continued, but he still put up some big numbers.

As I mentioned in my last post, next season's Hall of Fame ballot first-year class is pretty weak.  The biggest names will be Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun, Nick Markakis and Edwin Encarnacion.  All of them had great careers, but none are likely to make the Hall on the first ballot.  Hamels could get in eventually.  Braun falls into the same trap as Manny Ramirez, with much weaker overall numbers.  No one else seems likely to make it through the first year on the ballot.  The only player from the Red Sox who will make his debut is Rick Porcello, the 2016 Cy Young winner.  He does not seem likely to make it to a second year on the ballot either though, due to a mostly uneven career.