[VanillaGorilla]

If there are no Veterans Committee inductions, I will save space in the header by not denoting that the class is inducted by the writers (VBBWAA).

Batting .400, on the dot. 20 of the 50 entrants are RL HOFers.

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His name was Rico
Played on a diamond
Drafted 3rd in '24
The Mariners he would play for

And when he finished
He was a HOFer
Rico was a superstar, hit baseballs real far
490 homers flew
6 time All Star, too

He won an MVP and a single pennant, and stole 5 bags, too!



I can't top that...will just post Petrocelli's Ink and move on.....

Black Ink: 7 (0)
Gray Ink: 67 (49)
HOFm: 120 (19)
HOFs: 59 (20)

Gorilla Composite: 2.7 (0.9)

Ok...need more....Petrocelli enters the Hall at the age of 43, having played through the 2046 season. He hit 414 HR as a SS, the most in league history. His 490 total HR rank 24th (tied with Dutch Zwilling). He collected 1542 RBI (19th, between Jim Gentile and Pablo Sandoval), 2343 hits (40th, 2 more than Al Rosen), 463 doubles (52nd), and scored 1294 (34th) while slashing 271/351/506 for a npa OPS+ of 129. And he really did steal 5 bases!

In 2031 he hit .341 with 59 HR and 146 RBI (npa OPS+ 197) to take the MVP.

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When Chipper Jones entered the HOF I wrote that it is rare for a team to win multiple WS and have only one HOFer, and that Jones could be the only player from the 2021 and 2023 Orioles to make it to the converted tractor shed. Me and Chipper Jones (no, I'm not going off on another song tangent, I promise) are proud to welcome his teammate from those two teams, Jackie Robinson into the HOF....no Simon and Garfunkel, either.....

Jackie Robinson is known for being a first. Here, he is the second Robinson to enter (Frank), but he is the first player to be entered as a second baseman. He is also the first player to enter with 0 Black Ink points (the reason I thought he wouldn't make it). But in he is, and deservedly so.

Aside for his Oriole WS crowns, Jackie won with the 2026 Austin Controllers (formerly the Brewers) who, like the Orioles, are now defunct.

Jackie was selected by the Orioles with the 13th pick in the 2016 draft. He burst upon the scene by slashing 342/427/583 in 125 games for a npa OPS+ of 170. He hit 27 HRs, had 95 RBI, scored 94 runs, and won the league Rookie of the Year. He hit at least 25 Hrs and batted over .320 in each of his first 6 seasons.

In 2021, Robinson was named MVP as he batted .348, posted career highs in HR (34) and RBI (114) with an OPS of 1.078 for a npa OPS+ of 189.

He played through the 2029 season and collected 1729 career hits, 262 HR, 362 doubles, 35 triples, drove in 1034 and scored 997 while slashing a hefty 316/408/539 (30th/12th, one spot ahead of Frank Robinson...cooool..../88th) for a npa OPS+ of 153.

In 80 post season games, Robinson slashed an amazing 347/451/642 with 15 HR, 59 RBI and 7 steals in 8 tries.

Robinson was named to 7 All Star teams and won 2 GGs at 2B, and another at 3B.

Robinson enters the HOF 10 days after his 59th birthday.

Black Ink: 0 (8)
Gray Ink: 85 (121)
HOFm: 118 (98)
HOFs: 55 (38)

Gorilla Composite: 2.5 (2.5) <----- THIS

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Bobby Bonilla was selected by the Marlins with the 12th pick in the 2029 draft. Unlike RL, he stayed with them.

He played in Florida through the 2045, having a fabulous career. The Marlins thought he was done. Bonilla didn't, and he wanted to get 2500 hits. He signed a deal with Arizona for 2046. The Marlins were right.

He enters the HOF as the Marlin career leader in G, AB, 1B, 2b, 3B, RBI.....some guy named Gentile owns the Marlin career HR mark.

In 2033 Bonilla, Jim Gentile and Willie Stargell powered the Marlins to a WS title. And I do mean powered. Bonilla's 53 HR was the fewest of the bunch. However, he tallied 138 RBI, besting the other 2 HOFers by one.

He followed up in 2034 with his best season, posting career highs in HR (55), RBI (159), slg% (.687) and runs scored. Bonilla has cool baseball card where it shows him scoring 122 runs in 2032, 123 runs in 2033, and 124 runs in 2034. Bonilla batted .33 and posted a career high npa OPS+ of 184 working with a .386 OBP.

Bonilla slowed down in his 30s, but at the age of 36 he was still a positive contributer on offense and chipped in 18 HRs in another Marlin WS title season.

2396 times Bonilla hit safely (35th). He belted 453 HR (37th, sandwiched between Alex Rodriguez and George Brett) and 486 2B (43rd, one slot ahead of Joe Torre) and 53 3B (81st). He drove in 1398 (29th, one spot ahead of Adieny Hechavarria) and scored 1334 runs (28th). His career slash line of 294/361/534 gives him a npa OPS+ of 139.

Bonilla, IRL, played in the shadow of Barry Bonds, here he is in his metaphoric shadow on the HOF list, as Bonilla follows Bonds alphabetically on the list. A good guy to have hitting behind you.

Bonilla appeared in 8 All Star games and won a GG in RF. He enters the HOF 2 weeks shy of his 42nd birthday.

Black Ink: 7 (3)
Gray Ink: 101 (96)
HOFm: 140 (64)
HOFs: 57 (32)

Gorilla Composite: 3.0 (1.8)

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ADD: Petrocelli, Robinson and Bonilla each make their first appearance in an OOTP HOF.