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The 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame week in Cooperstown, New York concluded Sunday with the live televised induction ceremonies of three great players and one superior manager.
The events coincided with Major League Baseball's All-Star Game which saw the AL beat the NL 5-3 this past Tuesday.
Two of the players spent their entire career with one team - catcher Joe Mauer with the Minnesota Twins (2004-2018), and first baseman Todd Helton with the Colorado Rockies (1997-2013).
Third baseman Adrián Beltré was signed by the LA Dodgers at the age of 15 and ultimately played for the Dodgers from 1998-2004, followed by stints with the Seattle Mariners (2005-2009) and the Boston Red Sox (2010) before playing out his career with eight seasons for the Texas Rangers (2011-2018).
Manager Jim Leyland was a baseball lifer who didn't make it big as a player. He spent 7 seasons in the farm system of the Detroit Tigers. But he made his experience count and converted what he learned into becoming an long-time assistant baseball coach, and ultimately a 22-year managerial career in the major leagues.
The field of potential future baseball Hall of Famers is quite large with mlb.com listing 40 current players in 2024. The list is led by Mike Trout and includes such obvious choices as the Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper and the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge
The weekend also saw honors extended to announcer Joe Castiglione who has spent the last 40 years calling Boston Red Sox games. His most iconic moment came in 20024 when he had the privilege of announcing the final out of the World Series, "The Boston Red Sox are the world champions! For the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox have won baseball's world championship. Can you believe it?!"
Posthumously, Gerry Fraley was honored with the 2024 BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) Career Excellence Award. Fraley had his life cut short by cancer on May 15, 2019 at just 64 years of age. He spent 40 years covering the Phillies, Braves and Rangers, served as a BBWAA president, and even covered other sports from football and auto racing to basketball, all with ease and aplomb.
Alphabetical order by last name
Bios courtesy baseballhall.org
Played 21 seasons for the Dodgers, Mariners, Red Sox and Rangers, establishing himself as one of the best all-around third basemen in the game’s history with five Gold Glove Awards and four Silver Slugger Awards. Ranking second all-time with 2,759 games played at the hot corner, Beltré totaled 3,166 hits and 477 home runs to become the only regular third baseman in big league history (among those players who played at least half their games at third base) with at least 3,000 hits and 450 homers. Finishing in the Top 10 of his league’s Most Valuable Player Award voting six times, Beltré hit .300-or-better seven times, reached the 20-homer mark 12 times and totaled five seasons with at least 100 RBI. Among players whose primary position was third base, Beltré’s career Wins Above Replacement figure of 93.5 ranks third all-time behind Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews. He became the seventh player in history to hit three home runs in a postseason game when he hit three solo shots for the Rangers in Game 4 of the 2011 ALDS vs. the Rays. A four-time All-Star, Beltré is the fifth player born in the Dominican Republic to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Played 17 big league seasons – all with the Rockies – and retired as one of only 21 players in history with at least 1,000 games played, a .300 batting average, a .400 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. A five-time All-Star, Helton played quarterback at the University of Tennessee between two future NFL first-round draft picks – Heath Shuler and Peyton Manning – before concentrating on baseball. A first-round draft pick of the Rockies in 1995, Helton was a big league regular by 1998, embarking on an eight-year stretch where he averaged a 1.045 OPS and won the 2000 NL batting title. He amassed more than 400 total bases in both 2000 and 2001, becoming just the seventh player in history with multiple seasons with 400 total bases and one of four players with 400 total bases in back-to-back seasons. Helton was a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and four-time Silver Slugger Award recipient at first base, and his career OPS of .953 ranks 23rd all-time.
Managed in the big leagues for 22 seasons with the Pirates, Marlins, Rockies and Tigers. Amassing 1,769 victories, six first-place finishes, three pennants and the 1997 World Series title with the Marlins, Leyland was a three-time Manager of the Year winner – twice with the Pirates in 1990 and 1992 and again with the Tigers in 2006. Leyland’s team also finished second five times and he finished in the Top 2 of his league’s Manager of the Year voting six times. He led his teams to 90-or-more victories seven times and his victory total ranks second all-time among managers who never played in the big leagues, trailing only Hall of Famer Joe McCarthy. Following his big league managerial career, Leyland skippered Team USA to the World Baseball Classic title in 2017, the first championship in the event for the United States.
Played 15 seasons – all with the Twins – and became the first and only catcher to win three league battle titles, doing so in his first five full big league campaigns. His first batting title in 2006 made him the first catcher in AL history to win batting crown, and he followed up with titles in 2008 and 2009. Mauer was named the AL Most Valuable Player in 2009 after hitting .365 with a league-leading OPS of 1.031, becoming the only catcher (minimum 100 games played) to lead his league in OPS. He was a six-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger Award winner and three-time Gold Glove Award winner. Mauer was the No. 1 overall pick in 2001 MLB Draft, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (1987), Chipper Jones (1990) and Harold Baines (1977) as only top overall draft picks elected to Cooperstown. He topped the .400 mark in on-base percentage in six of his seasons as a catcher, a total exceeded by only six other catchers, none of whom started their careers after 1930. Mauer is the only catcher in history with at least 2,000 hits, a .300 batting average and a .380 on-base percentage.
The Hall of Fame is comprised of 346 elected members. Included are 273 former major league players, as well as 40 executives/pioneers, 23 managers and 10 umpires. By position, there are: 84 pitchers, 20 catchers, 27 first basemen, 20 second basemen, 19 third basemen, 26 shortstops, 23 left fielders, 24 center fielders, 27 right fielders, 3 designated hitters, 23 managers, 10 umpires and 40 executives/pioneers.
Only 75 current members are among the living, and 51 attended the festivities.
After Willie Mays passed away at age 93 on June 18 of this year, Luis Aparicio became the oldest living member at age 90.