In January on MLB Network it was announced that 3 players are joining the baseball HOF. Here is a bi

It’s a new year, which means resolutions but also means that a new class of Hall of Famers join the Baseball Hall of Fame. That’s what I’m here to talk about today.

This year three players went over the 75% of votes needed

to enter the Hall of Fame. With the highest percentage of votes out of everyone...Jeff Bagwell! He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 4th round of the 1989 draft. He was a lifelong Red Sox fan, but when he was in Double-A playing for the New Britain Red Sox, (Fun Fact: Now they are the Portland Sea Dogs) he was only an undeveloped 22 year old prospect at the time. He received a call telling him that he’s been traded to the Astros for a 37 year old reliever Larry Andersen who had an ERA below 2.00 for the past two seasons to fill the Red Sox’s desperate need for bullpen help. Bagwell was devastated. He would play the rest of his career with the Astros. After winning the Rookie of the Year almost unanimously with a .294 batting average and 15 home runs. The next season he had a monster season with a .368 batting average and 39 round-trippers and won the MVP. He finished his 15 year career with 4 All-Star appearances, 3 Silver Slugger Awards, 1 Gold Glove, and 1 MVP season in 1994.

The second person who will be in Cooperstown in July is Tim Raines. This was his 10th and final year on the ballot. He had the second most percentage of votes with 86%. He was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 1977 draft. In a 23 year career he finished as the most successful base stealer ranked by percentage. In his first season he batted .304 with 71 stolen bases finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting. He was an All-Star his first 7 seasons, he finished top 10 in MVP voting 3 times, won a silver slugger, and ended his career 5th all time in stolen bases with 808.

The third and final member who got the call from the hall is Ivan Rodriguez. Who was one percent over the 75% needed to join the Hall of Fame. He was born in Puerto Rico in 1971, when he was in Little League he started his catching career. He signed with the Rangers as an International Free Agent at age 16. In 21 years he caught 46% of players trying to steal off him. Just to show how impressive this is in this previous 2016 MLB season Salvador Perez led the league in Caught Stealing Percentage with 48%, the worst last season was Russell Martin with only 15%. In his career he was voted in to join 14 All-Star games, won 13 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Slugger Awards, and 1 MVP season in 1999. Did I mention this was his first year on the ballot?

Now I haven’t told you that if you don’t get at least 5% you are off the ballot and never will return. The biggest surprise in that regard is that Jorge Posada will not return for a 2nd year on the ballot. One of the best Yankees to be behind the dish only got 3.8%. He made 5 All-Star teams and got 5 Silver Sluggers. People thought he might get in the first year so it shocked people when they found out the only way he can get in is through the Veterans Committee . This is the 2017 Hall of Fame class.