[VanillaGorilla]

4 pitchers and 3 hitters get the call from the Hall, this year. This pulls up the pitcher/hitter ration to 23:56. The anticipated ratio is about 1:2.

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Dazzy Vance was selected by the Blue Jays with the top pick in the 2026 draft. That means he made his ML debut the same season that Percy Coleman was pitching in his last.

Dazzy Vance is a player that I keep forgetting is in the RL HOF. I don't know why I have this block in memory for him. Perhaps with this entry it will stick with me. He had a dominant run in the 1920s that earned him his real life enshrinement. Here, he dominated in the 2030s.

From 2031 through 2040 Vance won 139 games while dropping 65. He twice led the league in wins, including a 25-7 2040 season, which is one win shy of the all time single season record.

6 times he led the league in Ks, including 414 in his 25 win 2040 season, which was his second of two career Cy Young Award seasons.

In 1937 he won his other CYA and also won the Triple Crown as he posted a line of 20-8, 2.45 (npa ERA+ 175) and a career high 477 strikeouts in 240 1/3 IP. This was his second consecutive 400 strikeout season, and the most by any pitcher in a season in league history. His K/9 rate of 16.490 ties him with Rube Waddell's 2027 season as the best in league history.

Vance posted a cool looking 222 wins (t-18th Tim Keefe, one more than Jim Bunning) in his career vs 163 losses and a 3.52 OOTP ERA (npa ERA+ 135). He struck out 4835 men (5th, one spot behind Waddell) in 3570 innings for a career K/9 rate of 12.24, 8th best. Vance also picked up 31 saves.

6 times Vance struck out 300 men in a season. 3 of those times he topped 400. No player has struck out 400 men in more seasons. Toad Ramsey and Rube Waddell also accomplished the feat 3 times.

Vance appeared in 2 post seasons, but never pitched in a WS. His 43 career CGs ties him with Willie McGill for 61st place, all time. He retired in 2049.

Twice a Gold Glove winner, the 7 time All Star Vance enters the HOF at the age of 57.

ADD: Vance struck out a record tying 23 men in a single gamein 2039, but only pitched 8 1/3 innings.

Black Ink: 59 (66)
Gray Ink: 191 (174)
HOFm: 188 (89)
HOFs: 45 (35)

Gorilla Composite: 4.4 (3.7)

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Jim H O'Rourke was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays with the third overall pick in the 2030 draft.

O' Rourke played 0 games at second base. Why mention this? Because he played over 100 games at every other position. He logged over 1000 innings at every position, except LF (and 2B). At catcher he played 7548 innings in 869 games (all but 6 of those were starts) and it is as a catcher, he is inducted...the 4th to be enshrined.

In 2035 he had his best season, as far as OPS+ goes (197). He slashed 310/476/582 wile hitting 23 HR in 105 games. In those 105 games he walked 105 times.

Along with fellow HOFer George Brett, O'Rourke led the Rays to WS victory as he slashed 304/429/717 during that post season, hitting 5 HR in 14 games.

For his career O'Rourke slashed 287/357/472 for a npa OPS+ of 124. He collected 2629 hits (19th, one spot behind Joe Torre), 605 doubles (8th, one more than Orlando Cepeda), 75 triples (t-15th, Nap Lajoie), and 314 HR.

O'Rourke scored 1486 times (22nd, 1 spot ahead of Sam Crawford) and collected 1380 RBI (54th). He also stole 282 bases (66th).

Unlike RL, O'Rourke was never used as a pitcher.

A 5 time All Star, O'Rourke enters the HOF at the age of 51.

Black Ink: 9 (27)
Gray Ink: 92 (297)
HOFm: 95 (84)
HOFs: 62 (49)

Gorilla Composite: 2.9 (4.4)

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Jim Rice was selected by the Reds (not the Red Sox) with the 8th pick in the 2032 draft.

Much in the same manner that he gained entry into the RL HOF, by being one the most feared hitters in the game for the better part of a decade, Rice gains his entry here.

His career numbers are very good, but the totals, themselves, are not quite what would gain a player entry to the HOF here. He had a fine slash line of 302/357/590 (places 33rd for slg%) for a npa OPS+ of 149. He hit 451 HR (t-56th, Javy Lopez and George Brett), 314 doubles, 46 triples, on 1847 career hits. He drove in 1280 (76th, one spot behind Al Oliver) and scored 1041 times.

Now, how he got those numbers:

He broke into the league batting .321 with 40 HR and 116 RBI to take Rookie of the Year, in 2033.

From 2033 through 2041 he hit at least 40 HR each season (a career high 55 in 2038) and drove in at least 107 runs (a career high 157, also in 2038).

He took the Reds to the post season each season from 2035-2037 where he slashed 315/361/596 with 7 HR in 22 games, but never played in a WS.

Rice won a GG in LF and appeared in 6 All Star games before retiring in 2053. He enters the HOF at the age of 48.

Black Ink: 7 (33)
Gray Ink: 148 (176)
HOFm: 149 (146)
HOFs: 41 (43)

Gorilla Composite: 3.1 (4.3)