Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Four Red Sox Players Still Alive On HOF Ballot

Two of today's inductees into MLB's National Baseball Hall of Fame wore Red Sox caps—obviously Pedro Martinez, but also John Smoltz for a brief moment in time. Further down the ballot, some other former Carmine Hosers attracted votes. Specifically, they were: Curt Schilling (39.2%); Roger Clemens (37.5%); Lee Smith (30.2%) and Nomar Garciaparra (5.5%). Schilling is the most likely of the bunch to eventually make it through to Cooperstown—perhaps as early as 2016. Next year's ballot has only one dead-lock certainty: Ken Griffey, Jr.. Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell also have decent shots in 2016, but the "clearance" of three top pitchers this year bodes particularly well for Schill.