The 2017 Major League Baseball Hall of Class was announced Wednesday with first basemen Jeff Bagwell, outfielder Tim Raines and catcher Ivan Rodriguez making the cut.
While the three newest members of Cooperstown are deserving of the honor, there were a few players who deserved to be inducted alongside them this year.
Roger Clemens: To put it simply, Roger Clemens is one of the best pitchers to ever toe the rubber. He ranks third all-time in strikeouts, seventh in starts and ninth in wins. Clemens won 20 or more games six times, struck out 200 or more batters in 12 seasons and pitched 200 or more innings in 15 campaigns. He won the pitching triple crown in back-to-back seasons and led his league in ERA seven times which is the second most in history. “The Rocket” was an 11-time All-Star, an MVP and won the Cy Young Award a record seven times. He also led his league multiple times in shutouts (six), strikeouts (five), wins (four), win percentage (three), complete games (three), innings pitched (two) and wins (once).
Edgar Martinez: Heralded as one of the best designated hitters of all time, Martinez is one of only nine players in history with 300 home runs, 500 doubles, a career batting average above .300, a career OBP higher than .400 and a career slugging percentage higher than .500. He is the Seattle Mariners all-time leader in runs, doubles, walks, RBI, extra-base hits and total bases. Martinez was a seven-time All-Star and won five Silver Slugger awards.
Manny Ramirez: The 12-time All-Star finished his career with a .312 batting average, 555 home runs and 1,831 RBI. Ramirez won nine Silver Sluggers and the 2002 American League batting title. He was also named the 2004 World Series Most Valuable Player with the Boston Red Sox.
Barry Bonds: Bonds put up Hall of Fame numbers in his years with the Pittsburgh Pirates alone, but his years in San Francisco placed him in the pantheon of baseball greats. For his career Bonds hit a record 762 home runs, drove in 1,996 runs, stole 514 bases and walked a record 2,558 times. Bonds was a 14-time All-Star, eight-time Gold Glove winner, 12-time Silver Slugger and won the MVP seven times. While steroid speculation loomed over Bonds’ career, the fact remains that he was one of the greatest five-tool players in baseball history and should already have a plaque in Cooperstown.
Arguments can certainly be made for Vladimir Guerero, Trevor Hoffman and Curt Schilling among others, but Clemens, Bonds, Martinez and Ramirez deserve to have their historic careers honored in the Hall of Fame.
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