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Baseball Hall of Fame: Every Class’ Best Player (2010s Edition)

By Paul Willems

Plaques in the main hallway identify inductee classes in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum July 25, 2004 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
Plaques in the main hallway identify inductee classes in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum July 25, 2004 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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(Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

National Baseball HOF

2019

Best HOF player: Mariano Rivera, CL, New York Yankees (1995-2013)

Accomplishments: 13x All-Star, 5x champion, WS/ALCS MVP, 5x Rolaids Relief winner

Other inductees: Harold Baines, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Lee Smith

Realistically, who else was it going to be from this class other than Mo? The first and only player (as of writing) in the illustrious history of the Hall to be unanimously elected, being marked down on all 425 ballots cast, Rivera was the last image a multitude of teams saw on the way to falling at the hands of the Yankee machine during his tenure. Starting 10 games in 1995 to minimal success, New York moved him to the bullpen where he would go on to become the greatest closer the game has ever known, with eight seasons of 40 or more saves, including 44 in his final season at 43 years young on his way to a record 652 of them. He also helped deliver a full hand’s worth of rings to the Yankees’ enormous trophy case as well earned a spot in Monument Park.

2018

Best HOF player: Chipper Jones, 3B, Atlanta Braves (1993-2012)

Accomplishments: 1999 NL MVP, 8x All-Star, 1995 champion, 2x Silver Slugger, 2008 batting title

Other inductees: Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Jack Morris, Jim Thome, Alan Trammell

Long regarded as one of the best switch hitters of all time, hitting essentially the same average from both sides of the plate, Chipper was nearly everything one could want in a third baseman, possessing both the hitting and fielding prowess required to excel at the hot corner at the level he did. An instrumental part of the Atlanta Braves squads that ran through the NL East like butter for much of the 90s and 2000s, winning 14 straight division championships at one stage, Chipper was a long-standing figure in the middle of a Braves’ order that often featured no shortage of lumber.

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