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Eight former Dodgers are on the Corridor of Fame poll, though likelihood is that not a single one would put on the workforce’s cap ought to he be inducted.
A number of comply with a protracted, curious custom of future Corridor of Famers enjoying with the Dodgers for an eye fixed blink close to the tip of distinguished careers, their greatness largely a reminiscence.
An outlier is Adrián Beltré, a shoo-in as a first-ballot inductee this yr. He signed with the Dodgers at age 16, broke into the majors with them at 19 and left as a free agent after seven seasons, capped by a monster stroll yr in 2004 when he hit 48 dwelling runs and posted an otherworldly 1.017 on-base-plus-slugging share.
But Beltré capped his 22-year profession with eight distinctive seasons in Texas that burnished his Corridor of Fame bonafides. He’s virtually sure to put on a Rangers cap into Cooperstown. All however two of 189 Baseball Writers Assn. of America voters whose ballots have been made public have voted for him.
Gary Sheffield, who’s hovering across the 75% crucial votes for induction in his final yr on the poll, would have an attention-grabbing cap choice. The slugger performed for seven groups in 22 years and spent probably the most time — elements of six seasons — and gained his solely World Collection with the Florida Marlins. He had 3½ extraordinarily productive years with the Dodgers from 1998-2001 but in addition starred for a number of different groups. He looks as if a wonderful candidate to go for a cap with no emblem, an choice in recent times.
Fred McGriff, who performed for six groups together with one forgettable yr with the Dodgers, went in with no emblem final yr. Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina, each inducted in 2019, don’t have logos and neither does Yogi Berra, however that’s as a result of his head is tilted on his plaque.
Greg Maddux can be logo-less as a result of he break up his most efficient stretch between the Braves and Cubs and couldn’t select. That 19 of his 760 profession begins have been made in a Dodgers uniform in 2006 and 2008 presumably didn’t determine into the equation.
Earlier than 2001, electees selected the logos on their caps. Since then, although, HOF officers ask a participant for his desire however make the choice primarily based on the place he “made his most indelible mark,” in accordance with former Corridor president Jeff Idelson.
Plaques hanging within the Corridor of Fame at present honor the 340 gamers, managers and contributors elected since 1936. The plaques embody a raised bronze sculpture of the participant sporting a cap backed by two crossed baseball bats and a laurel wreath.
The previous Dodgers on this yr’s poll apart from Beltré and Sheffield have little likelihood of induction, and solely Adrián González spent a big variety of his productive seasons in Chavez Ravine. Nevertheless, it seems he gained’t attain the 5% vote complete crucial to stay on the poll.
Manny Ramirez batted .396 after coming to the Dodgers in a midseason commerce in 2008 and has Corridor of Fame numbers, however is on fewer than 40% of the ballots made public. He was suspended for testing optimistic for performance-enhancing medicine in 2009 with the Dodgers and once more in 2011 with Tampa Bay.
Andruw Jones has about 70% of public votes, though anybody who noticed him play solely throughout his single season with the Dodgers would surprise why. Chubby and off form at age 31, he batted .158 with three dwelling runs and 14 RBIs in 2008 whereas being paid $21.4 million, his stint in Atlanta as baseball’s premier heart fielder within the rear-view mirror.
Additionally on however down the poll are outfielder Bobby Abreu, who batted .246 in L.A. in the course of the seventeenth of his 18 seasons, and Jimmy Rollins, who posted a pedestrian slash line of .224/.285/.358 because the Dodgers shortstop at age 36 in 2015.
Chase Utley has an honest likelihood of ultimately reaching the Corridor of Fame, though he’s at about 44% of the votes in his first yr. His HOF-worthy seasons have been spent in Philadelphia, then from 2015-2018 he was a powerful clubhouse presence and strong participant with the Dodgers. An enduring contribution was convincing a number of teammates to undertake dairy-free diets.
A lot for the present crop. Let’s flip again the clock with a fast quiz:
Which of the next Corridor of Famers by no means performed for the Dodgers? Jim Thome, Rickey Henderson,Gary Carter, Juan Marichal, Frank Robinson, Hoyt Wilhelm, Jim Bunning, Tony Lazzeri, Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner, Waite Hoyt, Kiki Cuyler.
Reply? None! All of them have been Dodgers, simply not for lengthy.
Thome’s time in L.A. was the baseball definition of a Hollywood cameo, 17 pinch-hit appearances in September 2009 throughout which he hit zero of his 612 profession dwelling runs. He did have a clutch single in a Dodgers victory over the Phillies in Recreation 2 of the Nationwide League Championship Collection.
Henderson was a Dodger in 2003 at age 44 within the final of his illustrious 25-year profession. He batted .208 in 30 video games and accrued the final three of his all-time document 1,406 stolen bases and final seven of his all-time document 2,295 runs scored.
Carter’s cap alternative created controversy as a result of he wished to put on a Mets emblem however the Corridor insisted he go together with the Expos. The Dodgers, for whom in 1991 he batted .246 with six dwelling runs within the 18th of his 19 seasons, weren’t within the dialog.
Marichal was a Dodgers nemesis because the ace of the San Francisco Giants for 14 years, greatest identified for bashing catcher John Roseboro over the pinnacle with a bat in 1965. But he completed his profession with two forgettable begins for L.A. in 1975, giving up 9 earned runs in six innings earlier than retiring due to again ache.
Robinson and Wilhelm had 21-year careers that included transient Dodgers tenure. Robinson led the Orioles to 4 World Collection — together with a four-game sweep of the Dodgers in 1966 by which he was MVP — and in 1972 hit 19 of his profession 586 dwelling runs in his solely season in L.A. That very same yr, knuckleball specialist Wilhelm posted a 4.62 ERA in 16 reduction appearances with the Dodgers earlier than retiring at age 49.
Bunning, the one large leaguer to be voted into the Corridor of Fame and the U.S. Senate, pitched a half-season for the Dodgers in 1969, tossing 56 of his 3,760 profession innings and amassing three of his 224 wins for them. Hoyt’s profession numbers have been almost an identical to Bunning’s a technology earlier — notching 237 wins in 3,762 innings — and he completed his profession with the Brooklyn Dodgers, going 0-3 in 1938.
Lazzeri, a second baseman, helped the Yankees to 5 World Collection titles from 1927 to 1937 enjoying alongside Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. But he squeezed in 39 at-bats over 14 video games in Brooklyn to start the 1939 season earlier than the Dodgers launched him.
Cuyler, an outfielder blessed with energy and velocity, wears a Cubs emblem on his HOF cap and in addition starred with the Pirates and Reds. He discovered himself in a Brooklyn uniform on the finish, nevertheless, batting .273 as a part-time participant in 1938.
Brothers Paul and Lloyd Waner have been Pittsburgh Pirates icons within the late Nineteen Twenties and ‘30s who amassed greater than 5,000 hits between them and posted lifetime batting averages nicely above .300.
Paul joined a Brooklyn lineup in 1941 that included fellow future Corridor of Famers Joe Medwick and Pee Wee Reese. However he was launched after hitting .171 in 11 video games. He returned to the Dodgers in 1943 and batted .311, however was launched late within the 1944 season. Lloyd’s stint as a Dodger was even briefer, going 3 for 14 in 1944.
Corridor of Famers sporting L.A. Dodgers logos are shockingly few: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton. That’s it as gamers. Walter Alston and Tom Lasorda be part of them as managers.
Different names that leap to thoughts — Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Reese, and many others. — put on caps bearing the “B” of Brooklyn or selected one other workforce’s emblem — Mike Piazza went in with the Mets.
All of which ends up in an oddity: The trail to Cooperstown usually ran via Brooklyn or Los Angeles, however most have been mere stopovers that tainted the again of Corridor of Fame baseball playing cards.
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