Man Overboard

Archive   ·   February 19, 2026

Rolen Merely the Latest In An-Already Watered Down HOF

Only the best of the best, they proclaimed. The hallowed halls in that quant little town in upstate New York officially opened its doors on June 12, 1939 with the motto of, “Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations.” But the story began three years earlier with the inaugural class of inductions, followed by two more to add to a total of 16 men already named before the facility was welcoming throngs of fans who attended to honor these legends. 

     Those first groups faced the same 75% threshold of votes that is still the case today, making it even more compelling of the standard set by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Their ballots reflected that even the likes of Cy Young, Connie Mack and John McGraw had to wait until 1937 to be voted in. That speaks volumes about what was expected from the BBWAA and their brethren who were passed the baton. 

     How would that one writer who left Babe Ruth off his ballot nine decades ago feel about his successors voting someone like Scott Rolen in? The third baseman was the only one to make the cut this year with 76.3% (Fred McGriff was voted in by the Veterans Committee) and it is hard to even make an argument for him. Yes, he had a nice 17-year career that includes accolades such as winning the 1997 Rookie of the Year Award, eight Gold Gloves, and being named to seven All-Star squads. But he never led either league in any offensive category or eclipse any of the ‘automatic’ stats that usually push a player through – home runs (316), RBI (1,287) and hits (2,077) are all way short. His .281 career batting average is impressive, but not enough to make up for lacking so much elsewhere. 

     Rolen’s first year of eligibility (2018) garnered him only 10.2% of the vote, but he slowly climbed the ladder of respectability to get to 63.2% last year. That was even too much for a player of Rolen’s caliber if you factor in that Rogers Hornsby received a scant 46.4% (1936), 26.4% (1937), 8.8% (1938) and 46.6% (1939) before finally being inducted in 1942 (after a planned three-year hiatus on voting) with 78.1%. We’re talking about a player who was a two-time MVP, part of a World Series championship team and hit .358 with 2,930 hits, 301 home runs and 1,584 RBI in a 19-year career. 

     Just so no one feels that we’re singling out Rolen, here are a few other players who – in our opinion – do not belong in Cooperstown: Those who were mainly designated hitters (Edgar Martinez, Harold Baines), Bert Blyleven (points for longevity, but barely over .500 for his career), Gary Carter (.262 career batting average – catcher or not – jumps off the page), Ozzie Smith (a ‘Wiz’ in the field, but another .262 BA), Bill Mazerowski (one walk-off home run doesn’t erase .260 and less than 1,000 RBI for his career), Richie Ashburn (29 home runs, 508 RBI in 15 seasons) and Red Schoendienst (had some big moments, but not enough with only 84 home runs and 773 RBI). 

     The HOF should only include players who not only were the most dominant on their respective team, but league and game-wide, as well. ‘Honoring Excellence’ should be just that and inducting players who were very good, perhaps even great for a few seasons is not following that mantra.

(Appeared in MuscleSport Magazine Volume 14, N1/2023)