Quebecer Russell Martin will not enter the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, neither this year nor in the near future.
• Also read: Historic induction for Ichiro Suzuki into the Baseball Hall of Fame
Martin received nine votes out of 394 ballots submitted in his first year of eligibility, which is below the 5% required for a player’s name to be among the candidates again the following year. The Quebec receiver therefore obtained only 2.3% of the supports.
If the result leaves a bitter taste, we must recognize that it was already a great achievement for Martin that his name appeared on the ballots. The nine votes recorded were also higher than other big names in baseball who had already gone through the same process.
For example, in 2024, his good friend José Bautista, who was notably his teammate with the Toronto Blue Jays, received only six votes (1.6%) to be quickly excluded.
-Hernandez and Pedroia remain
For this year, among the 14 newcomers on the ballots, Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia were inducted in their first year. Otherwise, Félix Hernandez (20.6%) and Dustin Pedroia (11.9%) are the only candidates to have been selected, with more than 5% of the votes, in order to maintain their chances.
At the other end of the spectrum, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney and Ben Zobrist suffered an even more stinging setback than Martin by receiving no votes among voters. The only slim hope for these players, including the Quebecer, now rests on a possible vote by the review committee in many years.
Beltran short
Among the candidates who remained temporarily short, Carlos Beltran came very close to being elected with 70.3% of the votes in his third year of eligibility. Andruw Jones for his part received 66.2% of the votes on his eighth occasion while, remember, it is necessary to have 75% to be inducted. Each candidate can remain on the ballot for a maximum of 10 years. Manny Ramirez, with 34.3% for the 2025 ballot, will be on his 10th and last chance next year.
The famous Alex Rodriguez, whose steroid use considerably harms his chances, for his part obtained 37.1% of the votes on his fourth attempt. Like Hernandez, Pedroia and Jones, among others, his name will be found on the ballots again next year, but not that of Martin. The Quebecer will at least have been inducted, in June 2024, into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, in St. Marys, Ontario.
