Trevor Hoffman Misses Baseball Hall of Fame Induction by 5 Votes

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) has finally unveiled the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s class of 2017.

For yet another year, there will be no Orioles inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, unless you count the four games played by Tim Raines in 2001.

Raines received 86 percent of the vote. Smith, who is third in Major League Baseball history with 482 saves, received 34.2 percent of the vote this year. Vladimir Guerrero, too, falls just shy at 71.7 percent in his first year on the ballot, though it seems exceptionally likely that he’ll eventually join Hoffman in the Hall.

Raines, fifth in career stolen bases, received 24.3 percent of the vote in his first ballot appearance in 2008. Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award victor, received 54.1%, up from 45.2% he received a year ago.

The ballot, as many ballots of the past several years have been, is chock full of should-be Hall of Famers, though the writers have only voted to induct three.

Tigers first base coach Omar Vizquel, a longtime Major League shortstop, will appear for the first time in 2018.

Bagwell batted.297 with 449 home runs and 1,529 RBI while posting a.408 on-base percentage and a.540 slugging percentage.

Former catcher Mike Piazza, who fits that profile, was elected previous year on his fourth try. Canseco identified Rodriguez as a player who used performance-enhancing drugs, with Canseco writing that he personally injected the catcher nicknamed Pudge.

Other players selected Wednesday include Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros and Ivan Rodriguez who played for the Texas Rangers. Even with all the advanced stats that like Raines, it always puzzled me that a man with 808 career stolen bases struggled to attain this honor.

But the brilliance of Raines’ first decade and his longevity put him among the game’s greatest leadoff hitters, his overall numbers comparing favorably to Hall of Famer Lou Brock.

The 1994 National League Most Valuable Player, Bagwell spent all of his 15 seasons with the Houston Astros.

The Hall of Fame now has 317 elected members, including 220 players, of which 124 have come through the BBWAA ballot.

Statistically speaking, Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens are both among baseball’s all-time greatest players, yet for years some Hall of Fame voters have managed to vote for one but not the other.

As for former Braves, Fred McGriff (21.7%) and Billy Wagner (10.2%) both failed to make it in, although both achieved percentages high enough to keep them on the ballot in the future.