Baseball Hall of Fame: Every Class’ Best Player (2010s Edition)
Just over 300 are in MLB’s most exclusive fraternity: Baseball HOF. Who are the best each year, though? Call to the Pen takes a crack at just that.
Well, this is kind of a daunting task, isn’t it? I may more so be asking myself that than any out there reading this, actually. After all, how does one put a list like this together on such a subjective topic? 335 have been given the esteemed honor over the years of being enshrined in
Cooperstown’s hallowed halls, deemed by the media and their peers to be among the very best to step on the diamond. Sluggers and strikeout kings, .400 hitters and dominant bullpen stoppers to those behind the scenes and in the dugout, they’re all represented in one common fraternity: members of the baseball HOF.
Therefore, in this series of articles over the course of the near future, I will be going back in time, year by year, starting in 2019 and going all the way back to 1936 and finding out who can be considered the best of their class. So, no better place to start than the present.
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.
National Baseball HOF
2017
Best HOF player: Ivan Rodriguez, C, TEX/DET/WAS/NYY/HOU/FLA (1991-2001)
Accomplishments: 1999 AL MVP, 2003 champion,14x All-Star, 13x Gold Glove, 7x Silver Slugger
Other inductees: Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, John Scheurholz (exec), Bud Selig (exec)
Now, if this list was not restricted to players, the sometimes controversial Bud Selig may have found his way into this slot. However, I believe Pudge was the best of the 2017 class in part due to his place among those who have played his position. Talking before of how well-rounded Chipper was at 3B, Pudge was that and then some at catcher. A career .296 hitter with over 300 home runs, his hitting was oftentimes only matched by his ability behind the dish, winning a position-record 13 Gold Gloves and leading the Majors in caught stealing percentage five times, gunning down 46% of attempts for his career. A man whose nickname is just as synonymous with him as his skills or accomplishments, Ivan Rodriguez remains one of the gold standards at his position to look up to for today’s backstops.
2016
Best HOF player: Ken Griffey Jr., OF, SEA/CIN/CWS (1989-2010)
Accomplishments: 1997 AL MVP, 13x All-Star, 10x Gold Glove, 7x Silver Slugger
Other inductees: Mike Piazza
The first of what will certainly be a number of lighter years in terms of the quantity of inductees, but 2016 certainly made up for that in the quality department. Not only was Mike Piazza, a fellow all-time great catcher along with Pudge, elected, but as was one of the most electrifying players in all of MLB history. Known as “The Kid” or simply “Junior”, Griffey was the favorite player of many a kid growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, his flashy style of play very much ahead of its time looking at the landscape of today’s game. From scaling walls it seemed as would Spider-Man to his classic home run swing (the best of all time, I reckon), Junior dazzled fans for over 20 years, all the way up to belting 19 home runs in his final full season in 2009.
National Baseball HOF
2015
Best HOF player: Randy Johnson, SP, SEA/ARI/MON/NYY/SF/HOU (1988-2009)
Accomplishments: 5x Cy Young, 2002 Triple Crown, 10x All-Star, 2001 champion/WS MVP
Other inductees: Craig Biggio, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz
Perhaps the most imposing presence on the mound in the history of the game, the 6-foot-10 Johnson’s stature petrified opponents just as much as his stuff did. “The Big Unit” used this as an extra advantage over hitters, mowing them down at will for a solid 15 years. While he really burst on the scene as a force to be reckoned with during the latter part of his time with Seattle, it was with Arizona where the legend of Randy Johnson really began to grow. Not only did he create one of the most surreal moments in baseball history by hitting a bird in spring training of 2001 while in Arizona, he rattled off four straight Cy Young award wins from 1999-2002 during his tenure. This was punctuated by an insane 2001 campaign that saw him win 21 games while having a strikeout to walk ratio of 372 to 71. Simply put, John Kruk was far from the only hitter that Johnson made look foolish during his illustrious career.
2014
Best HOF player: Greg Maddux, SP, ATL/CHC/LAD/SD (1986-2008)
Accomplishments: 4x Cy Young, 8x All-Star, 1995 champion, 18x Gold Glove
Other inductees: Bobby Cox (manager), Tom Glavine, Tony La Russa (manager), Frank Thomas, Joe Torre (manager)
The first year of a two year stretch that saw all four men in the above photo be inducted in Cooperstown, the 2014 class was shared by three players and three managers, with Maddux being perhaps the most accomplished of the players inducted. Winning over 350 games in his career while punching out over 3300 batters, Mad Dog was the definition of clinical on the pitcher’s mound. He would throw 109 complete games in his career, something nearly unheard of in today’s game, going the distance 68 times between 1988 and 1995. He was so dominant in a number of these games that his namesake is born on a widely used term, as a complete game with under 100 pitches thrown is known as a “Maddux”. While there have been pitchers who have made it look easy since Maddux and there certainly will be more to come, perhaps no one ever made it look easier.
National Baseball HOF
2013
Best HOF player: Deacon White, 3B (1871-1890) Elected by Veteran committee
Accomplishments: 1887 champion w/ Detroit Wolverines, 2x batting champion
Other inductees: Hank O’Day (umpire), Jacob Ruppert (executive)
Well, this is an interesting year for the HOF, as only one player was inducted in White, who played even prior to the introduction of the American League. In addition, the other two inductees both died prior to 1940, with no players from the “modern era” elected. Regardless of his era, though, White had a very nice career, with a 45.5 career WAR and hitting .312 over his 20 seasons in baseball, and although he did die in 1939 and long gone to have a chance to see his introduction, he is now forever immortalized in Cooperstown.
2012
Best HOF player: Barry Larkin, SS, Cincinnati Reds (1986-2004)
Accomplishments: 1995 NL MVP, 12x All-Star, 1990 champion, 3x Gold Glove, 9x Silver Slugger
Other inductees: Ron Santo (elected through Veterans committee)
This was a pretty tough decision on the surface, as Larkin and Santo have nearly identical WAR numbers (70.4 and 70.5 respectively) and Santo has more impressive career offensive numbers at first. However, when looking at the accolades and what they meant to their teams over the course of their primes, this is where Larkin edges out Santo. This is, in part, due to not only his 1995 MVP campaign but also his next season where he slugged a career-high 33 home runs while still hitting .298 and swiping 36 bags. Santo was certainly underrated as a member of some Chicago Cubs teams that didn’t do a whole lot of winning, as he never saw the playoffs, and it’s a shame that he was elected via the veterans committee rather than the writers, but Larkin gets the vote here.
National Baseball HOF
2011
Best HOF player: Roberto Alomar, 2B (1988-2004)
Accomplishments: 12x All-Star, 2x champion, 10x Gold Glove, 4x Silver Slugger
Other inductees: Bert Blyleven, Pat Gillick (executive)
What Chipper Jones was to switch-hitting corner infielders in the 1990s, Roberto Alomar was to middle infielders. While Joe Carter may be more regarded in the minds of baseball fans looking at the back-to-back championships for the Jays in ’92 and ’93, Roberto Alomar can be seen as the heart and soul of those teams, with 1993 perhaps being his finest performance. With his .326 average leading the way, he also drove in 93 runs and stole 55 bases while winning a Gold Glove and getting an All-Star nod. While he is also known for one major incident on the field, spitting at umpire John Hirschbeck in 1996, there is dispute as to what led to that incident, and Alomar was able to rise above it in the eyes of voters to claim his place in the Hall.
2010
Best HOF player: Andre Dawson, OF, MON/CHC/BOS/FLA (1976-1996)
Accomplishments: 1987 NL MVP w/ CHC, 1977 NL ROY w/ MON, 8x All-Star, 8x Gold Glove
Other inductees: Doug Harvey (umpire), Whitey Herzog (manager)
To cap off what was an early 2010s of low quantity induction classes, only one player was selected yet again, this being one of the better outfielders of the 1980s in Andre Dawson. Dawson would make himself known with a stellar rookie season in Montreal, nearly pulling off a 20/20 year on the way to Rookie of the Year honors. Dawson would make his way to the Windy City after offering the Cubs a blank check in hopes they would sign him. They did, and Dawson rewarded them handsomely with his production, as while the Cubbies would not make the playoffs, Dawson would end up having what would be his best season of his career on his way to the National League MVP award. While he would not live up to that first season at Wrigley through the rest of his time in Chicago, it added to what amounted to a HOF resume for Dawson.