Brewers Up for Hall of Fame

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The Brewers are well represented among the 25 players seeking immortality this winter.

The Baseball Writers Association of America recently released their ballot for players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021. This year the list of candidates includes 14 players who have appeared on the ballot in previous seasons and 11 up for consideration for the first time. There is one former Brewer among the returnees and two among the debuting players.

Gary Sheffield

The returning player on this year’s ballot is almost certainly the most controversial Brewer of all time. This is Sheffield’s seventh of ten possible years on the ballot, and his support improved noticeably last year: After getting between 11 and 14 percent of the vote each year from 2015-19 he climbed to 30.5 percent in last year’s balloting. 

Sheffield played in nine All Star Games, won five Silver Slugger Awards and ranks in the top 50 all-time in walks (21st), home runs (26th), RBI (30th), total bases (35th) and runs scored (39th). He won a batting title as a Padre in 1992 (immediately after being traded by the Brewers) and led the National League with a .465 on-base percentage and 1.090 on-base plus slugging as a Marlin in 1996. He played in six postseasons as a member of three franchises and has a World Series ring from the 1997 Marlins.

While his numbers clear most Hall of Fame bars, Sheffield’s Hall of Fame case is clouded by questions about performance enhancing drugs. Sheffield never tested positive for a banned substance but admitted to having received the products known as “the cream” and “the clear” from Barry Bonds when testifying in front of a grand jury as part of the BALCO trial. Like many players of that era, Sheffield experienced the productivity boost in his mid-to-late 30’s that is often attributed to PED use.

This is a big year on the ballot for Sheffield, who is running out of time to build support for his candidacy. A significant boost in his support again this year could be an indication that he’ll be able to approach the needed 75 percent of the vote in one of his final years of eligibility, but if he continues to hang around the 30 percent mark again this season then it likely won’t happen.

Aramis Ramirez

A textbook example of a player who was consistently solid but unspectacular, Ramirez appears on the ballot for the first time this year and voters will have to weigh his longevity and sometimes-surprising career totals against his lack of a signature moment or season.

Across 18 MLB seasons Ramirez led his league in a statistic just three times: He had 50 doubles as a Brewer in 2012 and led the NL in sac flies with 11 each in 2002 and 2003. Despite rarely leading the league in anything, however, Ramirez accumulated 2303 hits, 495 doubles and 386 home runs. All three of those numbers put Ramirez among the top eleven third basemen of all time (minimum 1000 games at the position).

In an era where it matters, however, the advanced metrics don’t do Ramirez any favors. Baseball Reference’s version of Wins Above Replacement estimates that Ramirez cost his teams almost six wins defensively over the course of his career, detracting noticeably from his value. Ramirez’s young callup also allowed him to accumulate some counting stats but his poor performance in those early years knocked down his career value. His total WAR number is 32.4, only slightly more than half of fringe candidates like Sheffield (60.5) and Bobby Abreu (60.2).

While Hall of Fame ballots aren’t quite as crowded right now as they have been in some prior years, there are still a lot of good candidates in this year’s field and the limit of 10 players per ballot may prevent a player like Ramirez from getting some support. The best he can likely hope for is appearing on the necessary 5% of all ballots to return as a candidate next year.

LaTroy Hawkins

He’s not a headliner on this year’s ballot and his candidacy is unlikely to draw much support but being included among the candidates is a good reason to look back on Hawkins’ full body of work as an MLB pitcher and many fans will likely be surprised by what they find.

Hawkins started his MLB career as a starting pitcher and struggled mightily, carrying a 6.16 ERA across over 500 innings in his first five MLB seasons from 1995-99. Most pitchers who have an early career like that end up making a quick exit from professional baseball, but Hawkins’ MLB tenure had a remarkable second act.

Hawkins moved to the bullpen as a 27-year-old in 2000 and climbed the relief depth chart to close games for the Twins that season. An MLB career that looked like it might be on the rocks in 1999 lasted for 16 more seasons, as Hawkins pitched in 943 games in relief with a 3.28 ERA and recorded 684 strikeouts. He was seldom used as a closer but Hawkins was an effective setup man for a long time, even putting up a 2.76 ERA in 18 outings as a 42-year-old Blue Jay in 2015.

When he retired in 2015 Hawkins had pitched in 1042 games, which at the time was the tenth most in MLB history and seven more than Hall of Famer and fellow former Brewer Trevor Hoffman. He was never an All Star or a Cy Young candidate and he’s unlikely to get serious Hall of Fame consideration, but Hawkins had a career worth remembering and appearing on the ballot gives fans and writers alike one more opportunity to do so.