Marc Narducci spent 37 years covering all sports for The Philadelphia Inquirer before retiring in July 2021. He covered everything from high school games to the Phillies winning the World Series and the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. A lifelong New Jersey resident, she is a freelance writer and broadcaster. Once again, Marc reached out to see if MLB Trade Rumors would be interested in publishing his Hall of Fame vote. I’m happy to do it and I hope it can be an interesting topic of debate for our readers. Here is Marc…
Each year when we vote, we are asked if we wish to make our votes public 14 days after the results are announced. Naturally, when this story comes up, you know the answer.
What you won’t see here is criticizing someone else’s vote. There are many different ways to do this assignment.
Another thing is that most of the time, I don’t like to state why I didn’t vote for someone, unless they are the same players Manny Ramirez again Alex Rodriguezwho failed the steroids test.
Another person I didn’t vote for is worth mentioning Carlos Beltranwho deserves to be inducted for his play, but who was the mastermind behind the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, which changed the perception of the World Series champions. His role was so great that he lost his managerial job.
Last year Beltran was the closest to the unelected with 70.3% of the vote and is likely to get the 75% needed this year. He had a great job.
The argument against my stance on players like Ramirez, Rodriguez and Beltran is that they were some of the best players and deserved a spot in Cooperstown.
Again, I can respect that opinion, while not voting for those players.
One more thing – I won’t have a huge vote but I also won’t put why certain players other than those already mentioned are not in it. If you do that, it undermines the good work that the player was enjoying. All these players who were voting were good and there is no need to spoil it.
Another thing is that it is the belief of this reporter that the players should be sorted by the place they play. The process for second basemen, is different than third basemen, etc.
Having said that, here is my vote, with only two players.
Holdovers
Chase Utley
No one from the Phillies’ 2008 World Series championship team made it to the Hall of Fame. Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins (now in his fifth year in office) again Cole Hamels (now in his first season of eligibility) all had great careers.
Utley led that World Series team with a bWAR of 9.0.
He was a master of six. The knock on him is that he wasn’t productive enough, but in his prime, Utley was among the best players in baseball.
Utley, had a six-year stint, during which his average bWAR was 7.3. During those six years from 2005-2010, his slash line was .298/.388/.523 with an OPS+ of 133. He averaged 27.0 home runs, 95.3 RBI and 104.7 runs scored.
His 64.6 career bWAR is 15th all-time among all second basemen. Of those 15 players, he had the fewest plate appearances (7,863) as injuries hampered him in the latter part of his career, though he continued to produce, just not at the rate he did during the aforementioned six-year span. He is 10th among all second basemen in wins over average (41.0).
His 259 career home runs rank seventh among all second basemen, six of whom have been elected to the Hall of Fame. There is no other Hall of Fame second baseman who has produced a better OPS+ than Utley’s 117.
His slash line was .275/.358/.465. That, along with his power numbers, are excellent for second basemen. He was in the top 10 of MVP voting three times.
This is Utley’s third year on the ballot. He got 28.8% of the votes in his first year and last year he got 39.8%. He still has a long way to go, but he is moving in a good direction.
David Wright
And in his third year on the ballot, Wright received 8.1% of the vote last year. Injuries cut short what was a great career.
As a comparison, two years ago, Scott Rolen he got my vote, and was elected to the Hall of Fame. Wright, in my opinion, was like Rolen. Both earned seven All-Star appearances. Rolen was the better pitcher, but Wright won two Gold Gloves. Wright was a consistent offensive player.
The reason why Wright got this vote is that like Utley, he had the highest value. For Wright, that spanned nine years from 2005-2013. During that time his slash line was .302/.384/.505. He averaged 23.1 home runs and 92.9 RBI, 90.2 runs and 19.7 stolen bases. His OPS+ was 138.
After that 2013 season, which he played at the age of 30, Wright was never the same due to injuries.
For his career, Wright hit .296/.376/491 with 242 home runs and 970 RBI with a 133 OPS+. He finished in the top ten in MVP voting four times.
During his time, Wright was among the best players in baseball and while he faces an election battle, he will continue to receive this vote.
This year’s players
No one got my vote for first-year players this year. First year eligible players this year Ryan Braun, Shin-Soo Choo, Edwin EncarnaciónGio González, Alex GordonCole Hamels, Matt Kemp, How are you Kendrick, Nick Markakis, Daniel Murphy, Hunter Pence again Rick Porcello.
Again, they were all good players to get on the ballot, but they were good enough to get this vote.
And finally
The players who will be on the ballot for the first time next year are: Jake Arrieta, Jay Bruce, Asdrubal Cabrera, Starlin Castro, Wade Davis, Dexter Fowler, Todd Frazier, Brett Gardner, JA Happ, Scott Kazmir, Jon Lester, Andrew Miller, Mitch Moreland, Buster Posey, Ervin Santana, Kyle Seager, Joakim Soria, Ryan Zimmerman, Jordan Zimmermann.
