Baseball Hall of Fame snubs continue as two miss the cut

The Baseball Hall of Fame snubs continue with the failure of the BBWAA voters to elect two players in particular this year. The Hall of Fame class of 2024 includes Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer. Each of these players is deserving of the honor. However, some notable players got left out. This hypothetical ballot included two outstanding players deserving of induction in Cooperstown who got snubbed. Those two players would be Gary Sheffield and Billy Wagner. In his final year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot, Sheffield received 246 votes. In his ninth year of eligibility, Wagner received 284 votes. Both came close but received not quite enough votes for a plaque in Cooperstown.

This continues a concerning trend in Hall of Fame voting. For example, Jeff Kent and Curt Schilling, players worthy of a plaque in Cooperstown have run out of eligibility in recent years. These decisions by the voters continue to taint the process. This leads to otherwise deserving players who get elected being overshadowed by the discussion of those who got snubbed. Additionally, this is the third year in a row that at least one player has not been elected in their last year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot. It is unlikely that Wagner will face the same fate given how close he was this year. It would be great to see this trend reversed in future elections for the Hall of Fame.

Baseball Hall of Fame Snubs Continue

The Sheffield Case

With this result, Sheffield joins an accomplished list of players who fell off the BBWAA ballot after running out of eligibility. Players like Alan Trammell and Fred McGriff would later be inducted after falling off of the BBWAA ballot. It is not entirely doom and gloom for Sheffield. He will be eligible to be elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era committee in December of 2025. Hopefully, that committee will elect Sheffield to the Hall of Fame. Sheffield is one of 28 players in the 500 home run club. Of the group, 19 already have a plaque in Cooperstown.