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The Hall of Fame became a little less pitching-centric with the election of three position players, including -- shockingly -- the first infielders in the Hall's history. Right fielder Bryce Harper -- the HRDL's all-time leader in home runs and RBI's -- was a near-unanimous selection, with 99.3% of the vote. First baseman Todd Helton garnered 91.2% of the vote in his inaugural appearance on the ballot. First baseman Ed Morgan notched 75.7% in his fourth time on the ballot.

Harper, a 12-time All-Star, won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2011, and the Continental League MVP in 2014, and notched three other top-three appearances. Harper was selected by the Jacksonville Gulls in the league's inaugural player dispersion draft, and he broke out with a bang, hitting. 398 with 48 homers, 145 RBI's, and a .505 on-base percentage in the league's inaugural season of 2011. As the talent pool in the league expanded, Harper remained an elite hitter: he topped 40 homers 4 times in his first 5 seasons. Harper's 2014 was his finest all-around season, as he won the batting title, hitting .382 with a .488 on-base percentage, and a league-leading .655 slugging percentage, including 40 homers, 108 RBI's, and stole a career-high 26 of 30 bases. Harper spent his first sixteen seasons in Jacksonville, hitting over .300 every season, topping 30 homers eleven times, with 13 seasons over 100 RBI's. He also topped 7 WAR in each of his first 9 seasons. After sixteen extremely successful years in Jacksonville, Harper joined El Paso as a free agent, where he hit 65 homers in 3 seasons and averaged over 100 walks per season. He spent his final season with Pittsburgh, where he popped 28 homers with 118 RBI's and 125 walks at age 39. Although Harper never won a World Series, he was a postseason fixture, blasting 29 homers in 181 career postseason games, and he hit .340 and .348 in leading the Gulls to the 2021 and 2022 World Series. Over his 20-year career, Harper posted a career batting average of .326 with a .439 on-base percentage and a .556 slugging percentage -- good for an eye-popping career OPS+ of 170. He notched 3,705 hits (second all-time), 633 homers (first all-time), 2,174 RBI's (first all-time), 2321 walks (first all-time), and 133.4 WAR (third all-time).

Helton was a remarkably consistent and durable first baseman, who made five all-star teams for the Toronto Predators between 2015-19. Helton topped 200 hits 5 times, and 190 hits on four other occasions. He topped 30 homers 6 times, and 100 RBI's in seven different seasons. He also batted over .300 in each of his first 15 seasons. Helton came in 4th in the Frontier League MVP voting in 2016, when he hit .345 and slugged .590, popping 36 homers and 106 RBI's. Two years later, he was the runner-up for the Frontier League MVP after hitting .345 and slugging .593, with 34 doubled, 37 homers, and 127 RBI's. After nine stellar seasons in Toronto, Helton jumped to Kansas City as a free agent, where he spent seven productive seasons, including a career-high 44 homers in 2023 and leading the league in slugging percentage in 2026 after hitting .340 with 70 extra-base hits. Helton spent the final two seasons of his career with the Detroit Purple Gang. Helton retired with a career .317 batting average, a .404 on-base percentage, and .514 slugging percentage. He notched 3,222 hits, 582 doubles, 448 homers, and drove in 1673 runs while posting 94.5 WAR. At the time of his induction, he ranked seventh all-time in hits, sixteenth in homers, ninth in RBI's, and twelfth in WAR.

Morgan had a long and highly productive career. Debuting with the San Diego Zookeepers in 2011, he burst out of the gate, hitting .373 with 46 homers and a league-high 162 RBI's. After seven productive seasons with San Diego, where he topped .325 four times, Morgan jumped to the San Antonio Marksmen in free agency, where he continued to hit with authority, posting a 154 OPS+ in three-plus seasons. Morgan's career was rejuvenated at age 36 after a midseason trade to Charlotte in 2021 -- he hit .366 and slugged .529 in 51 games, and the following year, won the batting title hitting .388 with a .482 on-base percentage, 25 homers, and 116 RBIs. Morgan led the league in on-base percentage the following year (.464) with the New Orleans Crawfish. He remained a productive offensive player through age 41. Overall, Morgan hit .322 with a .417 on-base percentage (10th all-time)with a .495 slugging percentage, including 2888 hits, 516 doubles, 318 homers, 1499 RBI's, and 1501 walks.

Leading vote recipients included:

Bryce Harper, RF, JAX/ EP/ PIT: 99.3%
Todd Helton, 1B, TOR/ KC/ DET: 91.2%
Ed Morgan, 1B, SF/ SA/ CHA/ NO/ MIA/ BAL/ VAN: 75.7%
Jose Reyes, SS, CLE/ KC: 72.3%
Kirby Puckett, CF, HOU/ CAL/ PHI, 64.2%
Dave Ferriss, RHP, DAL/ NAS: 59.5%
Steve Hargan, RHP, CHA/ DET/ BUF/ HAR: 51.7%
Paul Molitor, 2B, HOU/ MIA/ PHI/ VAN: 49.3%
Bob Veale, LHP, CAL/ POR/ BUF/ DET/ PHI: 49.0%
Cody Bellinger, 1B, PHI/ DAL/ PIT/ HOU/ VAN: 48.3%

The ballot was slightly less unwieldy than past years, consisting of 55 players, roughly half of whom had at least a colorable claim to election. 21 players drew at least 10% of the vote. Notable players who dropped off the ballot after failing to reach 5% included slugging catcher Willson Conteras, infielder Marcus Giles (who rapped 2859 hits), 2016 ERA champion Lefty Williams, and hard-hitting third baseman Rafael Devers.

Here's a look at the Hall of Fame's newest inductees: