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Old 08-11-2019, 04:45 AM   #190
Dukie98
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 902
2040 Hall of Fame Voting

For the second straight season, four players were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Sluggers Gabby Hartnett and Lou Gehrig joined hurlers Joe Ross and Bob Shirley in the Hall of Fame, with all four stars being inducted on the first ballot. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Ross received 95.8% of the vote, eight-time All-Star Hartnett was tabbed on 82.6% of ballots, 2020 MVP Gehrig drew 81.5%, and 321-game winner Shirley pulled 79.5% of the vote.

Ross was drafted 20th overall by the Baltimore Robins following the 2018 season. He posted an 11-17 record with a 3.69 ERA as a 21-year-old rookie in 2019, but showed his potential in the postseason, going 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA in four starts. He blossomed the following year, going 13-10 with a stellar 2.46 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and 232 strikeouts. Ross missed most of the 2021 season with bone chips, but posted a 2.67 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP in ten late-season starts. He rebounded with a vengeance in 2022, winning the Cy Young Award after going 17-10 with a 2.26 ERA, a league-best 0.87 WHIP, 256 strikeouts, and 11.3 WAR. He finished fifth in the Cy Young voting in 2023, despite posting a hard-luck 9-12 record, despite a 2.86 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP, and a league-high 318 strikeouts; Ross managed to post more WAR (11.2) than actual victories. Over the next four seasons, Ross was consistently excellent over the next four years, posting ERA's below 2.60 and more than 200 strikeouts each year, finally making his first All-Star team in 2026. In 2028, Ross posted an 18-8 mark while posting career-bests with a 2.13 ERA and a league-leading 0.86 WHIP. Following the season, he jumped from Baltimore to San Antonio in free agency, and he won his second Cy Young Award for the Marksmen in 2030, going 21-7 with a 2.71 ERA, and leading the league with an 0.97 WHIP and 293 strikeouts. He was off to an even better start the following year, posting a 7-2 mark with a 1.65 ERA before tearing an elbow tendon around Memorial Day. Ross rebounded once again, posting a 15-12 mark the following year with a 2.63 ERA, a league-low 0.94 WHIP, and 260 strikeouts, while coming in a close second in the Cy Young voting despite missing most of September with a back injury. After another strong season in 2033, when he went 16-8 with a 2.74 ERA and 271 strikeouts, he signed with the Cincinnati Spiders in free agency, where he went 33-20 in his first two seasons, before missing most of 2036 with bone chips. He wrapped up with an ineffective season with Pittsburgh in 2037 before retiring with a 233-180 mark, a career 2.84 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP, 3797 strikeouts (4th all-time), and 131.9 WAR (6th all-time). Ross led the league in strikeouts three times, in WHIP four times, and in WAR four times. He made five All-Star teams and despite a middling 3-4 record, he posted a 2.77 ERA in 9 postseason starts.

Hartnett was drafted fourth overall by the St. Louis Pilots after the 2019 season. As a 20-year-old rookie, he hit a respectable .278 with 15 homers, 65 RBI's, and 28 steals. As a sophomore in 2021, he took the leap into stardom, hitting .321 and slugging .575, with 32 homers, 103 RBI's, and 17 steals, while finishing fifth in the MVP voting. The next year, Hartnett finished fourth in the MVP voting after hitting .323 and slugging a league-high .622, with 38 round-trippers and 105 RBI's. He hit .299 and smacked 30 homers while swiping 26 bags the following year. Hartnett spent nine years in St. Louis before signing with the Omaha Falcons after the 2028 season, and after his rookie year, he popped at least 20 homers every year with two more seasons over .300. He hit .294 with 25 homers and 77 RBI's in his first season in Omaha. In 2030, he had a monster season, hitting a career-best .358 and slugging .730, with 35 homer and 104 RBI's in just 102 games, spending multiple stints on the disabled list with hamstring and back injuries. After an off-year in 2031, he rebounded by hitting .309 and slugging .584 with 25 homers and 79 RBI's in 125 games. After slugging .550 with 29 homers and 97 RBI's in 2035 at age-35, Hartnett signed with the Los Angeles Kangaroos, where he ripped 20 homers and plated 85 runs in 2036, and won a World Series title the following season before retiring. Over his career, Hartnett made eight All-Star teams, posting a .283/ .372/ .508 career slash line. He ripped 2342 hits, 521 doubles, 433 homers, and drove in 1426 runs, while stealing 153 bases and posting 98.8 WAR. Among catchers, Hartnett ranked second all-time in homers and RBI's, third in slugging percentage, and first in WAR. He was a potent postseason hitter, batting .290 with a .525 slugging percentage, with 16 homers and 50 RBI's in 91 games, while winning two Wild Card MVP trophies ten years apart.

Gehrig was drafted first overall by the Cincinnati Spiders following the 2014 season. After three seasons of part-time play, he first saw regular playing time in 2018, where he hit a modest .263 with 5 homers and 38 RBI's. The following year, he hit .304 with 39 doubles, 25 homers, 85 RBI's, and 104 runs scored. In 2020, Gehrig took the next step into stardom, winning the Frontier League MVP award after hitting .344 and leading the league with a .448 on-base percentage and a .608 slugging percentage. Gehrig blasted 39 round-trippers, drove in 110 runs, and stole 22 bases while drawing 111 walks. After hitting .303 and leading the league with 112 walks the following year, he hit .309 with 34 homers and 107 RBI's in 2022. Gehrig set career highs in 2023, pounding 50 longballs, slugging .643, and driving in 127 runs, to go with a .328 average, while finishing third in the MVP voting. Following an off-year, he left Cincinnati to sign with the New Orleans Crawfish as a free agent. He was consistently productive in New Orleans, hitting between 25 and 29 homers in 4 of his 5 seasons in the Big Easy, topping 100 RBI's each season. Gehrig signed next with the Omaha Falcons, hitting .295 with 113 walks, 32 homers and 107 RBI's in his first season in the green and gold, and following it up with a 31-homer, 89 RBI campaign. He then signed with the El Paso Armadillos in 2033, where he slugged .538 at age 36, ripping 41 doubles, 35 homers, and driving in 124 runs while hitting .287. He hit 35 homers over his final two seasons in El Paso before finishing up as a pinch hitter with the San Diego Zookeepers. Over his career, Gehrig earned six All-Star nods and won three Silver Slugger awards. He retired with a career .292 average, a .397 on-base percentage, and a .494 slugging percentage, knocking 3,056 hits, 612 doubles, and 493 homers while posting 71.5 WAR. He drove in 1703 runs and scored 1770, ranking in the top 25 all-time in both categories, while drawing 1853 walks (7th all-time). He also popped 16 doubles and 5 homers in postseason play while driving in 29 runs.

Shirley was selected 15th overall by the Nashville Blues following the 2016 season. After going 13-13 with a 3.77 ERA as a rookie, he won 15 games in 2018, and took the leap to the next level the following year, as he went 16-11 with a 2.72 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP - the first of five straight seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA, winning at least 15 games each year while posting a combined 82-46 record. In 2020, he went 20-9 with a 2.83 ERA. After two solid, if unspectacular seasons, he went 16-12 with a 2.67 ERA and a league-leading 0.96 WHIP in 2026, finishing fourth in the Cy Young Award voting, and followed that up by going 18-11 with a 2.76 ERA and 1.07 WHIP the following year. In 2028, he posted a 16-6 record with a career-best 2.42 ERA. After winning 19 games the next season, he posted a career-best 21-6 mark in 2030, with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, while finishing second in the Cy Young voting. After an off-year in 2031 and a slow start the next year, Shirley was traded to Vancouver in May 2032. Shirley went just 9-13 with a 4.30 ERA with Vancouver, and his career appeared to be on the downswing. But after signing with Detroit in the offseason, he went 18-7 the following year with a 2.82 ERA and 1.17 WHIP, finishing fifth in the Cy Young Award voting. He also earned a 16-5 mark with a 3.29 ERA in 2035 -- at age 39. Shirley then returned to Vancouver as a free agent, winning 22 games in two years to cross the 300-win milestone. In addition to being tremendously durable, Shirley was also a terrific postseason pitcher, posting a 2.77 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in 47 postseason starts, although his won-lost record was just 18-20. He led Nashville to the 2021 World Series title, going 4-3 with a 2.24 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 7 starts, and in 2030, he led them to within two games of the title, going 6-1 with a 1.55 ERA and 0.78 WHIP, allowing just 2 homers in 64 postseason innings while averaging 8 innings per start. A six-time All-Star, Shirley sported a career record of 321-220, with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP, fanning 2892 batters while garnering 95.5 WAR. He ranks second all-time in victories and innings pitched.

Leading vote recipients include:

Joe Ross, RHP, BAL/ SA/ CIN/ PIT: 95.8%
Gabby Hartnett, C, STL/ OMA/ LA: 82.6%
Lou Gehrig, 1B, CIN/ NO/ OMA/ ELP/ SD: 81.5%
Bob Shirley, LHP, NAS/ DET/ VAN: 79.6%
Gorman Thomas, CF, HAR/ ELP/ OMA/ CHI/ CHA: 64.1%
Kirby Puckett, CF, HOU/ CAL/ PHI: 63.3%
Larry Parrish, 3B, ANA/ CHA: 62.2%
Elston Howard, C, MON/ LA: 54.1%
Jack Clark, RF, STL/ TOR/ ELP/ LON/ LA: 50.1%
Bernie Friberg, 2B, OKC/ DEN/ WAS: 49.6%
Trevor Story, SS, LA/ CHA/ ATL/ MIL: 48.5%
High Pockets Kelly, RF, JAX/ TOR: 45.7%

Noteworthy players who dropped off the ballot included Puckett, a six-time Gold Glover with 3,052 hits who spent 10 years on the ballot, but peaked at 66.9%, left fielder Mike Menosky, who topped 3100 career hits, six-time All-Star Moises Alou, 2024 Cy Young Award winner Noah Syndergaard, 224-game winner Larry Cheney, and five-time stolen base champ Willie Wilson.

Here's a look at the newest Hall of Famers:
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