BOSTON – Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia received the most votes in his second year on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, the results of which were announced Tuesday.
Although the waning spark who was a key member of two World Series-winning teams fell far short of the 75 percent needed in the polls, the conversation about Pedroia’s candidacy should continue through the years, giving him a chance to gain momentum.
A candidate can be on the BBWAA ballot for more than 10 years, as long as the voting percentage does not fall below 5 percent.
There was a guy Pedroia played with for parts of three seasons with who looked like a surefire Hall of Famer at one point.
But Manny Ramirez was suspended twice for testing positive for PEDs, and he lost heavily in the polls (38.8 percent) in his last year on the ballot.
In a 19-year career, including eight (2001-08) in Boston, Ramirez had a .312/.411/.585 batting line with 555 homers and 1,831 RBIs. He was the MVP of the ’04 World Series where the Red Sox won for the first time in 86 years. Ramirez reunited with Pedroia and David Ortiz to lead the team to another title three years later.
Rick Porcello, the third player to participate in the voting with the Red Sox, received two votes in his first and last year on the ballot. The highly regarded righty won the American League’s Cy Young Award in 2016, helping the Red Sox win the AL East in Ortiz’s final season.
It will be interesting to see if Pedroia’s poll totals take another big jump next year.
In Utley’s first year on the ballot in 2024, he received 28.8 percent of the vote before rising to 39.8 percent the year before and 59.1 percent in his third year on the ballot. Only Beltrán and Jones received more votes than Utley.
Although Utley played 1,937 games compared to Pedroia’s 1,512, he only had 80 hits. This means little to Utley. Rather, it’s a sign of the strong path Pedroia had to Cooperstown before Manny Machado blew out his left knee in April 2017. Pedroia cruised throughout that ’17 season, hitting .293 in 105 games.
Pedroia didn’t know it at the time, but his career was over after that season. Subsequent surgery could not relieve Pedroia’s knee, and he played a total of nine games over the next two seasons before officially announcing his retirement in the winter of 2021.
But the sharp dip and painful end to his career don’t diminish what Pedroia did during his incredible peak.
Only two players in history to win Rookie of the Year, MVP, two World Series titles and four Golden Glove Awards? Pedroia and Johnny Bench.
In his ten years of excellence (’07-16), Pedroia slashed .303/.368/.447 with 869 home runs and 371 runs to go along with those four Gold Gloves for his prowess at second base.
Jeff Kent is another player who gives hope to Pedroia down the road. With the second baseman getting elected last month by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee after a 10-year absence from the BBWAA vote, it makes you wonder if Pedroia’s unique case — based on peak performance before the injury — could land him in Cooperstown. Kent’s bWAR of 55.4 is not that much higher than Pedroia’s 51.8. In Kent’s first two years in the BBWAA poll, he received 15.2 and 14.0 voting percentages before topping out at 46.5 in his final year.
Something happens to players who end up much earlier than expected when they enter the hallowed halls of Cooperstown.
Look no further than Kirby Puckett, whose career bWAR (51.1) was below Pedroia’s.
