BOSTON – Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia got a sizable bump in votes in his second year on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, results of which were announced Tuesday.
Though the diminutive sparkplug who was a key member of two World Series-winning teams fell well short of the 75 percent needed for election, the conversation surrounding Pedroia’s candidacy should continue through the years, giving him a chance to gain momentum.
A candidate can be on the BBWAA ballot for a maximum of 10 years, as long as the voting percentage doesn’t fall below five percent.
There was a guy Pedroia played with for parts of three seasons who also looked like a surefire Hall of Famer at one point.
But Manny Ramirez was suspended twice for testing positive for PEDs, and fell well short of election (38.8 percent) in his final year on the ballot.
In a 19-year career, including eight (2001-08) in Boston, Ramirez had a gaudy batting line of .312/.411/.585 with 555 homers and 1,831 RBIs. He was the MVP of the ’04 World Series during which the Red Sox won it all for the first time in 86 years. Ramirez also teamed with Pedroia and David Ortiz to lead the team to another title three years later.
Rick Porcello, the third player on the ballot with Red Sox ties, received two votes in his first and ultimately final year on the ballot. The highly-respected 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 voting total takes another sizable increase next year.
In Utley’s first year on the ballot in 2024, he received 28.8 percent of the votes before bumping to 39.8 percent last year and rocketing to 59.1 percent in his third year on the ballot. Only Beltrán and Jones earned more votes than Utley.
Though Utley played in 1,937 games compared to 1,512 for Pedroia, he had just 80 more hits. This is no slight at Utley. Instead, it is a sign of what a strong path Pedroia had to Cooperstown before Manny Machado spiked his left knee in April 2017. Pedroia hobbled through the rest of that ‘17 season, hitting .293 in 105 games.
Pedroia didn’t know it at the time, but his career was essentially over after that season. Subsequent surgeries weren’t able to provide any relief for 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 doesn’t diminish what Pedroia did during his impressive peak.
The only two players in history to win Rookie of the Year, MVP, as many as two World Series titles and four Gold Glove Awards? Pedroia and Johnny Bench.
In his decade of excellence (’07-16), Pedroia slashed .303/.368/.447 with 869 runs and 371 doubles to go with those four Gold Gloves for his prowess at second base.
Jeff Kent is another player who provides hope for Pedroia down the road. With the second baseman gaining election last month through the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee after striking out in his 10 years on the BBWAA ballot, it makes you wonder if Pedroia’s unique case — based on peak performance prior to injuries — could eventually land him in Cooperstown. Kent’s bWAR of 55.4 isn’t that much higher than Pedroia’s 51.8. In Kent’s first two years on the BBWAA ballot, he garnered voting percentages of 15.2 and 14.0 before topping out at 46.5 in his final year.
There is a precedent for players whose careers ended much earlier than expected gaining entry into the hallowed halls of Cooperstown.
Look no further than Kirby Puckett, whose career bWAR (51.1) was just below Pedroia.
