On January 24th, the MLB Hall of Fame announced their three winners for the hall. Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer were the three selected this year. Beltré had the most votes with 366 votes which is 95% of the votes. Helton had 79.9% of the votes, finishing second. Mauer had 76.1% of the votes and he was the last one to finish. Billy Wagner had 73.8% of the votes and missed it by 5 votes.
Beltré was in the MLB for 21 years. When he first made it to the Majors, he was with the Dodgers and spent the first 7 years with them. He made a stop with the Mariners for 5 years and made another stop in Boston for a year. Then he went to the Rangers, where people mostly remember him from. He finished his career with 477 homeruns and 1707 runs batted in. He was a four-time All-Star, Gold Glover, and Silver Slugger winner. Trevor Waters (12) said, “I grew up watching Adrian and he was very entertaining to watch.”
Helton was in the MLB for 17 years and he was a Rockie for his whole career. He started in 1997 and ended in 2013. He was a five-time All-Star, four-time Sliver Slugger, and three-time Gold Glove winner. Helton finished with 369 homeruns, and 1406 runs batted in.
Mauer was in the MLB for 15 years and was a Twin for his whole career. He started in 2004 and ended in 2018. Mauer was a six-time All-Star, five-time Sliver Slugger, three-time Gold Glover, and won the MVP in 2009. His stats were .306 Batting Average, 923 runs batted in, and only 143 homeruns throughout his career.
Wagner missed it by 5 votes this year and has been running since 2016. He is one of the best closers to ever play the game. He started his career with the Astros and played there for nine years. He went to the Phillies for two years, then went to the Mets for four years. He made a stop in Boston for a year, then made his last stop in Atlanta. Wagner ended his career with 422 saves, 3.99 SO/W, seven All-Star Selections, and the 1999 NL Rolaids Relief award. The only person statically better than Wagner is Mariano Rivera. He has the highest K/9 and K% of all time. “I wish I got in, but I’m happy for the three that got in this year. Hopefully, I get in next year, but I know I had a good career,” said Billy Wagner.