[VanillaGorilla]

The RL Class of 1955 had 4 hitters and 2 pitchers inducted. So, it will be the same, here.

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Matt Kemp was a player in this universe who flashed brilliance when healthy, but had to fight through injuries throughout his career. The Selection Comittee looked favorably upon him and he gains a rather quick entry.

Kemp was drafted by the Rangers with the 24th pick in the 2001 draft. He made his final big league appearance in 2018, and he retired in 2019.

For his career he collected 1779 hits, 341 of which were HRs. He stole 212 bases and posted a career slash line of 278/329/484 for a npa OPS+ of 118.

When he was healthy, he was one of the best players of his era. In his sophomore season of 2003, he won the league MVP as he hit a career high 217 base hits, knocked 47 HRs, stole 29 bases, and drove in 149, leading the league in RBI. His slash line of 323/398/597 made for a npa OPS+ of 162. He played in 162 games. The only time in his career he was able to do so.

In 2007, he hit career highs of 57 HR and 162 RBI, leading the league in both categories. His 213 hits marked the second time he collected 200 in a season. It was also the last time. He slashed 320/362/623 in a non MVP effort that saw his npa OPS+ figure recorded as a 158.

Kemp played in 3 ASGs, and won 3 GGs in LF. He appeared in one post season, but never a WS.

Kemp enters by virtue of his Black Ink total being above the Hall average. Kemp was screened for the previous class, but his Black Ink was not above the Hall average, at that time. After the 2026 entrants arrived, it was, so he gets in with this class.

Black Ink: 22
Gray Ink: 61
HOFm: 96.5
HOFs: 22

Gorilla Composite: 2.3

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Zack Wheat is the 17th player to be inducted into this HOF and the previous one. He is the 11th RL HOFer to be inducted into this HOF. He is the third player to be inducted into all three. At age 79, he becomes the oldest player at his time of induction to enter the Hall.

Wheat was the 4th player drafted in the Inagural Draft in 1973. He was 26 years old. He retired following the 1986 season.

Selected by Cleveland, he played 5 seasons there before becoming a Free Agent and joining the Brewers following his 1977 campaign in which he hit .348 and won the league batting title.

In his first year as a Brewer, he again won the league batting title as he rapped out 217 hits (his second straight season over 200) and hit 29 HRs, drove in 126 and scored 120. He slashed 340/383/550 for a nap OPS+ of 160.

In 1980, he was part of a HOF stacked Brewer squad that won the WS. Previous entrants on that squad included Adrian Gonzalez, Count Campau, Ralph Branca, and Matt Kilroy.

For his career (again, which started at age 26) he collected 1651 hits, 225 HRs, stole 110 bases and slashed 317/375/512 for a solid HOF npa OPS+ of 149.

The entries of Wheat and Kemp illustrate how the HOF standards are relative to the universe from which they come, and not to that of their RL counterparts. Wheat enters, like Kemp, by virtue of his Black Ink being above this Hall's average, at this time. The RL Black Ink Average for hitters is 26. Both of them are below that figure.

In a league which began with 24 teams, and now has 32, Black Ink is harder to come by than when there were only 16 teams. It is to this lower standard that the players are compared for entry purposes.

Black Ink: 25 (8)
Gray Ink: 77 (227)
HOFm: 95 (98)
HOFs: 36 (48)

Gorilla Composite: 2.8 (3.2)

ADD: Zack Wheat had the highest GC for a LFer in the previous HOF. He won't have that distinction for this one.