Just five players were named on more than 60 percent of public ballots for this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame election. Only one of them received enough votes to gain entry into the 2023 class.
Scott Rolen got 76.3 percent of the vote, narrowly surpassing the 75 percent threshold by just five votes.
Rolen, 47, is just the 18th third baseman elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame, the fewest of any position. He will join Fred McGriff in the Class of 2023 on July 23 in Cooperstown.
Rolen’s election meant that Hall of Fame shutout for the second time in three years by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
A seven-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner who played for the Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Reds, retired after the 2012 season, Rolen got just 10.2 percent of the vote in his first ballot appearance in 2018 but had climbed steadily since with 52.9 percent in 2021 and 63.2 percent last year when he fell 47 votes shy.
Rolen’s 70.1 career WAR ranks tied for 69th all-time and puts him ahead of several Hall of Famers. For his career, he slashed .281/.364/.490 and slugged 316 homers.
Meanwhile, Todd Helton got 72.2 percent of the vote, leaving him just 11 votes shy of induction. No player had previously come that close without getting in.
