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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 902
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2060 Hall of Fame Voting
After several years of relatively uncrowded Hall of Fame ballots, the class of 2060 added several highly qualified newcomers to the mix. The top five vote recipients were all first-time candidates, and four players topped the 75% threshold for induction. Fireballer Nolan Ryan, who recently was overtaken as the all-time strikeout king, was a near-unanimous selection, drawing 99.5% of the vote. Mike Schmidt, the all-time home run leader with 826 round-trippers, drew 92.3% of the vote. Harry Heilmann, a ten-time All-Star and a career .334 hitter, received 91.0% of the vote. Second baseman Jim Viox, a career .323 hitter with 3034 career hits, nabbed 78.9% of the vote.
Ryan was selected 26th overall by the Nashville Blues following the 2031 draft, but he never appeared in a Nashville uniform. In early 2033, Ryan was traded to the Detroit Purple Gang in exchange for outfielder Chris Duffy, who posted negative WAR in each of the next five seasons, in what may be the single worst trade in HRDL history. Ryan did not reach the majors until 2035, as Detroit installed him as its closer, and he notched 28 saves, a 3.81 ERA and a hefty 1.63 WHIP as a rookie. Ryan posted 25 and 27 saves in each of the next two years, posting a 2.45 ERA and 93 strikeouts in just 59 innings in 2037. After a middling season in middle relief, Ryan returned to the closer role in 2039, saving 24 games with a 3.78 ERA. In 2040, Ryan moved into the rotation and immediately leaped into stardom, going 17-9 with a 2.81 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, and a league-high 309 strikeouts, finishing second in the Cy Young voting. The following year, Ryan posted a 20-6 mark with a 2.69 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and fanned 288 batters, leading the league in both victories and strikeouts, winning the Cy Young Award. Ryan took a step back in 2042, going 11-7 with a 3.34 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and 207 strikeouts, missing nearly two months with elbow inflammation. In 2043, Ryan sported a 10-5 mark, along with a 3.24 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP and 281 strikeouts. He rebounded the following season, tying Walter Johnson for the Cy Young Award, as Ryan went 22-4 with a 1.82 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, and fanned 311 batters, leading Detroit to a world championship. After a mediocre 2045 campaign, he won his third Cy Young Award in 2046, going 21-4 with a league-leading 1.72 ERA, an 0.86 WHIP, and a record 393 strikeouts. He slipped to a second-place Cy Young finish the following year, going 19-5 with a 2.13 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, and 326 strikeouts, yielding just 9 homers in 220 innings. Ryan finished third in the 2048 Cy Young voting after leading the league in victories for the fourth time, going 20-5 with a 2.25 ERA, an 0.96 WHIP, and 330 strikeouts. Ryan took home his fourth Cy Young Award in 2049 and finished a close second in the MVP voting, going 21-5 with a 1.74 ERA, an 0.77 WHIP, and a league-best 347 strikeouts. In 2050, Ryan posted a 12-8 mark with a 2.04 ERA, an 0.86 WHIP, and led the league with 371 strikeouts - his fifth strikeout crown and the eighth straight season he lead the league in strikeouts per 9 innings - finishing fourth in the Cy Young voting. Over the next six seasons, Ryan remained highly effective, posting ERA's below 3.00 in 5 of those seasons, with sub-1.00 WHIPs every season, although he did not post more than 14 victories in any of those seasons. Ryan retired after a middling 2057 campaign, when he saw his strikeout rate plummet at age 43. He retired with a 289-140 record, 105 saves, a career 2.69 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 5586 strikeouts, a 170 ERA+, and 128.3 WAR. At the time of induction, Ryan ranked 9th all-time in victories, second in strikeouts, and he allowed the lowest opponents' batting average in history - a microscopic .182. In addition to winning four Cy Young Awards, Ryan made 7 All-Star teams. In 59 career playoff games, he went 19-11 with 2 saves, a 2.45 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 468 strikeouts.
Schmidt was selected 4th overall by the Virginia Beach Admirals following the 2037 season. He broke in with a bang, winning the 2038 Rookie of the Year Award as a 21-year-old, slugging .508 with 39 homers, 101 RBI's, and 122 runs scored. In his sophomore campaign, Schmidt hit .301 and slugged .616, blasting 41 dingers, driving in 103 runs, and scoring 109 runs. In 2040, Schmidt launched 42 longballs, knocking in 128 runs and scoring 124, while swiping 21 bases. He finished 4th in the MVP voting in 2041, hitting .299 and slugging .575, with 45 homers, 123 RBI's, and 25 steals. While his average dipped in 2042, he smacked 50 homers and plated 124 runs. After a pair of off-years, he rebounded in 2045 to hit .296 with 44 homers, 99 RBI's, and 118 runs scored, finishing fifth in the MVP voting. After a solid 43-homer, 118-RBI campaign in 2046, where he finished third in the MVP voting, Schmidt entered the most dominant phase of his career, as he won four home run titles in the five seasons between 2047 and 2051. In 2047, he finished a close second in the MVP voting, hitting .297 and leading the league by slugging .638 with 58 longballs and 145 RBI's. The following season, he hit a modest .260, but led the league again with 53 homers, driving in 119 runs with another 4th place MVP finish. In 2049, Schmidt hit .285 with a league-leading 51 homers and 132 RBI's, finishing in third place in the MVP balloting. After suffering through a career-worst 2050 campaign, Schmidt rebounded in 2051 to hit .265 with a league-leading 49 homers, 98 RBI's, and 101 RBI's, with another third-place MVP finish. Over the next three seasons, Schmidt was remarkably consistent, averaging 42 homers and 105 RBI's per season. In 2055, at age 38, Schmidt hit a career-high .335 and slugged .635, smacking 48 dingers and driving in 132 runs, finishing 4th in the MVP voting once again. He played two more seasons, averaging 27 homers per year, before retiring at age 40 as the all-time home run king. For his career, Schmidt posted a .270/ .373/ .543 slash line, with 3013 hits, 492 doubles, 34 triples, 826 homers, 2126 RBI's, 2137 runs scored, 1655 walks, 196 steals, a 137 OPS+, and 109.5 WAR. In addition to ranking first in home runs, he also ranked 9th all-time in RBI's and 21st all-time in WAR. A nine-time All-Star, Schmidt won seven Silver Slugger awards. In 79 career playoff games, he bopped 20 homers and knocked in 44 runs while scoring 48 times, despite batting just .214. Schmidt led the Continental League four times in homers, once in RBI's, and once in slugging percentage.
Heilmann was drafted second overall by the London Werewolves following the 2038 season. As an 18-year-old rookie, Heilmann hit a solid .277 and slugged .503, blasting 32 homers and driving in 93 runs. After a subpar sophomore campaign, he rebounded in 2041 to hit .315 with 50 doubles, 19 homers, and he scored 101 runs. The following year, he regained his power stroke, hitting .344 with 42 doubles, 32 homers, 100 RBI's, and 113 runs scored. In 2043, he hit .369, ripping 42 longballs, driving in 116 runs, and scoring 123 runs, finishing 3rd in the MVP balloting. The next season, he repeated his third-place MVP finish, hiting .364 with 45 longballs, 131 RBI's, and 144 runs scored. The next season, he missed the first three months of the year with a broken elbow, but returned to hit .370 and slug .689, blasting 24 round-trippers and driving in 77 runs in just 81 games, taking the Werewolves to the World Series title. In 2046, Heilmann hit .365, led the league with a .443 on-base percentage, and slugged .625, drilling 38 longballs and driving in 113 runs, finishing fifth in the MVP balloting. The next season, he won hit first batting title, hitting .358 and slugging .638, with 56 doubles, 34 longballs, 119 RBI's, and 131 runs scored. Heilmann was having an MVP-caliber campaign for London in 2048 when he was shockingly traded in July to Jacksonville for catchers Caleb Joseph and Trevor Brown; combined, he hit .370 with 43 homers and 133 RBI's. In the offseason, he signed with El Paso as a free agent, and in his first season as an Armadillo, Heilmann hit .322 with a league-best .428 on-base percentage, drilling 34 homers and plating 105 runs. The following year, he hit .346 and led the league by slugging .605, with 49 doubles, 29 dingers, and 110 RBI's. Heilmann won the batting and on-base titles again in 2051, posting a .349/ .440/ .580 slash line, with 46 doubles, 28 longballs, and 117 RBI's, finishing second in the MVP voting. In 2052, Heilmann slipped to hit .300, but smacked 34 homers and drove home 121 runs. He rebounded the following year to hit .347 with 48 doubles, 36 homers, and 125 RBI's. In 2054, Heilmann hit .354 and slugged .651, ripping 39 doubles, 46 longballs, driving in 134 runs and scoring 123 times. The following season, he hit .309 with 33 homers and drove in 102 RBI's. Following the 2055 season, he signed with the Buffalo Fighting Elk, where he spent two ineffective seasons before retiring at age 36. For his career, Heilmann posted a .334/ .417/ .588 slash line, with 3393 hits, 714 doubles, 67 triples, 578 homers, 1897 RBI's, 1904 runs scored, 1434 walks, 111 steals, a 172 OPS+, and 97.2 WAR. At the time of his induction, Heilmann ranked 7th all-time in batting average, 14th in on-base percentage, 10th in slugging percentage, 5th in OPS, 21st in hits, and 17th in doubles, A ten-time All-Star, Heilmann won seven Silver Slugger awards. He remained just as dangerous in the postseason, hitting .310 and slugging .595, with 38 homers and 107 RBI's in 144 postseason games. In London's 2045 postseason run to the World Series title, he hit .369 with 8 homers and 27 RBI's in 22 games.
Viox was selected 26th overall by the Phoenix Lizards following the 2034 season. As a 20-year-old rookie in 2035, he hit .323 with 53 doubles, 12 homers, 91 RBI's, 132 runs scored, and 25 steals, finishing third in the Rookie of the Year voting. In his sophomore campaign, Viox hit .316 with 40 doubles, 19 homers, 67 RBI's, 127 runs scored, and 22 steals. In 2037, he posted a .344/ .435/ .540 slash line, ripping 56 doubles, 17 homers, 100 RBI's, and scoring 112 runs. The next season, he hit .337, rapping 52 doubles, 12 homers, 123 RBI's, 96 runs scored, and a career-high 36 steals. In 2039, Viox hit .323 with 23 longballs, 99 RBI's, and 125 RBI's while swiping 32 bags. In 2040, Viox hit .353 and slugged .561, drilling 50 doubles, 16 homers, and knocking in 113 runs in just 124 games due to a thumb injury, as he led Phoenix to a World Series title. The next season, he hit .323 with 48 doubles, 12 homers and drove home 99 runs while scoring 97 times. He had his finest season in 2042, hitting an incredible .399 with a .494 on-base percentage, including 53 doubles and 105 RBI's in 118 games, as he overcame a torn hamstring. He followed that up by hitting .351 with a league-leading 59 doubles, scoring and driving in exactly 100 runs. In 2044, Viox hit .315 with 43 doubles, 9 homers, and 86 RBI's. After an off-year in 2045, he rebounded to hit .345 with a league-best .455 on-base percentage, including 49 doubles and 97 runs scored. Viox spent five more seasons in Phoenix as a productive, if injury-prone, player, topping .300 four more times in that stretch, while playing between 59 and 123 games per season. Viox signed with the San Francisco Longshoremen in the offseason, and spent the balance of his career as an oft-traveled journeyman, spending his remaining seven seasons with seven teams as he chased his 3000th hit. Viox retired after the 2057 campaign, with a career slash line of .323/ .414/ .482, with 3034 hits, 817 doubles, 50 triples, 190 homers, 1484 RBI's, 1649 runs scored, 1450 walks, 229 steals, a 135 OPS+, and 86.3 WAR. He ranked 19th all-time in batting average - and the all-time leader among second basemen - and 7th in doubles. In 59 career postseason games, Viox hit .325 and slugged .491, with 18 doubles, 7 homers, and 42 RBI's. In Phoenix's 2040 march to the World Series title, he hit .304 with 10 doubles and 17 RBI's in 23 games.
Leading vote recipients include:
Nolan Ryan, RHP, DET: 99.5%
Mike Schmidt, 3B, VB: 92.9%
Harry Heilmann, RF/1B, LON/ JAX/ ELP/ BUF: 91.0%
Jim Viox, 2B, PHO/ SF/ OMA/ CLE: 78.9%
Warren Spahn, LHP, ALB/ MIA/ NOR: 71.8%
Bill Madlock, 3B, PIT/ LON/ DEN/ BAL: 66.3%
Greg Swindell, LHP, DEN/ HAR/ MIN : 62.2%
Mark Teixeira, 1B, CHA/ DET/ ATL/ PHO/ SD: 56.7%
Bill Singer, RHP, MIL/ BUF: 54.2%
Vladimir Guerrero, RF, SF/ SA/ ALB/ BOS: 53.7%
Jim Wynn, RF, OMA/ CHI/ JAX: 52.6%
Joe Adcock, 1B/DH, SF/ BIR/ DEN/ DET/ MIA/ STL/ BOS/ ALB: 51.5%
Notable players dropping off the ballot include 626-homer hitter Joe Adcock and five-time All-Star reliever Ken Howell, each of whom saw their ballot eligibility expire, as well as 230-game winner Frank Tanana and 470-homer slugger Ken Harrelson.
Here's a look at the newest Hall of Famers:
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