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Old 05-05-2019, 03:02 AM   #158
Dukie98
All Star Reserve
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 902
2034 Hall of Fame Voting

After last year's selection of three position players, the Hall of Fame voting veered sharply in favor of pitching once again, as five hurlers were inducted, as well as shortstop Jose Reyes -- the first middle infielder to be selected. The ballot featured an astonishingly deep class of new candidates, as five first-timers were inducted. Madison Bumgarner led the way, with 94.6% of the vote. All-time wins leader Gary Nolan earned 90.3% of the vote, while runner-up Larry Jaster received 84.3% of the vote. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Joe Gibbon earned 82.9% of the vote, while Roger Clemens was named on 79.6% of ballots. Reyes, in his fifth turn on the ballot, received 76.5%.

A seven-time All-Star, Bumgarner debuted at age 18 with the Minneapolis Penguins in 2013 after falling to the 22nd pick in the draft, and he starred from day one, notching a 2.60 ERA and 211 strikeouts as a rookie. By 2016, at the tender age of 21, he notched a 20-12 record, a 2.23 ERA, and led the league with a microscopic 0.89 WHIP. The next year, he posted a 21-5 mark with a 1.73 ERA, and again led the league with a 0.84 WHIP, as he finished second in the Cy Young Award voting and third in the Frontier League MVP race. Bumgarner posted another second-place Cy Young finish in 2018, posting a 2.31 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP despite an unexceptional 13-7 won-lost record. Bumgarner also carried the Penguins to their only world championship that year, going 5-2 in the postseason with a 2.75 ERA -- including going 2-0 in the World Series with a 1.10 ERA, allowing just 9 hits in 16 innings, and pitched into the 10th inning in the clinching Game 5. Bumgarner won the Cy Young Award and posted another top-3 MVP finish in 2021, when he went 21-6 with a league-best 1.82 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP, and notched 11.2 WAR. He spent his first 13 seasons with Minnesota -- 12 times posting a sub-3.00 ERA, and six times yielding less than one baserunner per inning. He joined the Jacksonville Gulls in 2026 where he won 64 games in five seasons (including four postseason appearances), before finishing up with one last hurrah with Cincinnati. Bumgarner ended his career with a 268-186 record, a 2.78 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, 3,543 strikeouts, and 122.3 WAR, and at the time of his induction, he ranked 5th all time in victories, 2nd in innings pitched, 4th in strikeouts, and 5th in WAR.

Nolan was a workhorse who set HRDL records for victories and innings pitched, winning 323 games over a 21-year career. Taken 119th overall by the New Orleans Crawfish in the inaugural dispersal draft, Nolan quickly established himself as a force, winning 18 games in each of his first two seasons. In 2013, he won the Continental League Cy Young Award after posting a 25-7 record with a league-best 2.41 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. Between 2013 and 2018, he won 20 games four times and also won 19 games in 2016; he also won three Gold Gloves in that stretch. After a slow start to 2020, New Orleans traded him to the London Werewolves at midseason, where he had 5 1/2 solid seasons, including an 8.0 WAR showing in 2022. Nolan signed with the Kansas City Mad Hatters as a free agent before the 2026 season, where he notched four strong seasons (including two more All-Star appearances) before showing signs of decline in his age 41-42 seasons. Overall, Nolan notched a 323-277 record with a 3.37 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP, with 2,780 strikeouts and 131.5 WAR (ranking second all-time). He remains the only pitcher to top the 300-win threshold in HRDL history.

Larry Jaster, a five-time World Champion and three-time All-Star, won 290 games over his storied career. A control artist, he never walked more than 53 batters in a season, and he led the league in the fewest walks per inning four times between 2023-2027. Jaster was drafted 71st overall by the Minneapolis Penguins before the 2013 season, forming perhaps the most potent draft class in league history with fellow inductee Madison Bumgarner. Jaster won 111 games for Minneapolis over seven seasons, including 20-win seasons in 2017 and 2018. Jaster was part of the Penguins' title team in 2018, where he won the MVP for the League Championship Series after going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA, while throwing a three-hit shutout in the clinching Game Six. After the 2019 season, he jumped to the Calgary Cattle Rustlers in free agency, where he posted five strong seasons, and won a combined 28 games for the 2022 and 2023 championship squads. In 2024, Jaster finished fifth in the Cy Young voting after going 18-9 with a 1.99 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP, while the following year, after joining the Charlotte Aviators, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting after going 16-4 with a 2.67 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP while leading the Aviators to a World Series title, earning another League Championship Series MVP trophy and earning the win in the World Series clincher. Jaster led Charlotte to another World Series title in 2027, after going 17-7 with a 2.67 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Jaster won a career-best 24 games in 2029, at age 36. While Jasper appeared poised to make a run at 300 wins in 2031, he suffered a series of severe arm injuries, requiring him to retire with a stellar 290-158 career record, with a 2.98 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, 2469 strikeouts, and 96.4 WAR. He ranks second all-time in victories and third all-time with just 1.1 walks per nine innings. He also sports a stellar 28-14 career postseason record

Joe Gibbon was drafted fifth overall by the Virginia Beach Admirals after the 2018 season and spent every day of his storied career in the Admirals' green and gold. As a rookie, the southpaw starred, going 20-9 with a 2.67 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. After two more solid seasons, he made the leap into stardom in 2022, winning the Cy Young Award after going 26-5 with a 2.19 ERA, a league-leading 0.97 WHIP, and 224 strikeouts, and he made the first of his six All-Star teams. The following year, Gibbon set a career high with a league-best 9.5 WAR, as he went on to lead the Continental League four times between 2023 and 2028. Gibbon won another Cy Young Award in 2025, after going 20-11 with a 2.59 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. In 2028, he earned his third Cy Young Award, going 21-11 with a league-best 2.33 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. After two solid, if unspectacular seasons, Gibbon suffered through an injury-riddled 2031 and retired at year's end. The three-time Cy Young Award winner posted a career record of 207-135 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP, with 2262 strikeouts and 79.7 WAR.

Roger Clemens was selected second overall by the Chicago Mules after the 2013 season, and he quickly paid dividends. After posting an 8.9 WAR rookie campaign, he won both the Cy Young and the MVP awards in his sophomore campaign in 2015, posting a 24-7 record and leading the league with a 1.55 ERA, a 0.87 WHIP, 286 strikeouts, and 11.3 WAR. The following season, he won the Cy Young Award once again, and finished second in the MVP voting, going 17-10 with a 1.93 ERA, a 0.98 ERA, and leading the league with 295 strikeouts and 10.3 WAR. Clemens made five straight All-Star teams between 2015 and 2019. After ten years with the Mules, Clemens jumped to the Charlotte Aviators in free agency, where he immediately became a key contributor to a championship-quality team. Clemens went 17-6 with a 2.69 for the Aviators in 2025, and he went 2-0 in four postseason starts for the world champion aviators. Clemens posted a 12-7 mark for the Aviators in 2027, as they won another title, and he followed it up with a 16-3 record with a 2.68 ERA the following year. After six seasons in Charlotte, Clemens spent his last two seasons with Jacksonville and Nashville. Overall, he registered a career mark of 249-171 with 7 saves, a 3.28 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, 3536 strikeouts, and 89.2 WAR, as well as a 12-7 career postseason mark. At the time of his induction, Clemens ranked 10th all-time in victories and 5th in strikeouts.

Jose Reyes debuted in 2011 with the Cleveland Rocks, after being selected 92nd overall in the inaugural dispersal draft. After a strong rookie season as a 19-year-old, where he hit .299 , scored 117 runs, and stole 52 bases, he had a breakout season in 2012, when he hit .362 and slugged .524, with 18 homers, 94 RBI's, and 67 steals, and finished runner-up for the Frontier League MVP. In 2013, Reyes led the Frontier League with a career-high 95 steals and scored 126 runs, while ripping 69 extra-base hits. A triples machine, he smacked a career-high 25 three-baggers in 2017, while hitting .317 and scoring 101 runs. In Reyes' first nine seasons, he hit over .280 and stole at least 45 bases every season, while scoring at least 100 runs seven times and making six All-Star teams. After missing most of 2021 with a broken kneecap, Reyes joined the Kansas City Mad Hatters in free agency, where he spent the final six seasons of his career, and earned the 2022 Wild Card round MVP. At the time of his induction, Reyes' total of 75.3 WAR in a Cleveland uniform was substantially more than any other player in franchise history, with only one other player, fellow Hall of Famer Aaron Judge, having even half as many WAR for the Rocks. Over his seventeen-year career, Reyes notched 2581 hits, good for a .290 career average, a .341 on-base percentage, and a .429 slugging percentage, including 428 doubles, 154 triples, 169 homers, 1051 RBI's. He swiped 683 bases and scored 1334 runs, posting a career total of 87.4 WAR. He ranked 6th all-time in triples and 15th in steals

Leading vote recipients included:
Madison Bumgarner, LHP, MIN/ JAX/ CIN: 94.6%
Gary Nolan, RHP, NO/ KC: 90.3%
Larry Jaster, LHP, MIN/ CAL/ CHA/ DET: 84.3%
Joe Gibbon, LHP, VB: 82.9%
Roger Clemens, RHP, CHI/ CHA/ JAX/ NAS: 79.6%
Jose Reyes, SS, CLE/ KC: 76.9%
Kirby Puckett, CF, HOU/ CAL/ PHI: 65.2%
Trevor Story, SS, LA/ CHA/ ATL/ MIL: 58.2%
Dave Ferriss, RHP, DAL/ NAS: 48.5%
Cody Bellinger, 1B, PHI/ DAL/ PIT/ HOU/ VAN: 47.8%
Pat Duncan, RF, SEA: 45.2%
Bob Veale, LHP, CAL/ POR/ BUF/ DET/ PHI: 42.1%

Overall, 64 players were on the ballot - 29 of whom received at least 10% of the vote. Noteworthy players who fell short of the 5% threshold to remain on the ballot include Rickey Henderson (who ripped 2598 hits and stole 926 bases), career .308 hitter Steve Garvey, 7-time All-Star Rick Monday, strikeout artist Felix Hernandez, and slugger Pablo Sandoval (who popped 320 homers and hit .296).

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