No one was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today, but six former Texas Rangers received votes. It’s almost impossible that any of them will ever get in.
Players need to be on 75 percent of voters’ ballots to be enshrined; former Houston Astro Craig Biggio was the closest this year, with 68.2 percent. The Baseball Writer’s Association of America (BBWAA, taking a page from Grapevine’s book) had to deal with three (alleged) steroid-users facing the ballot for the first time this season: Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Sammy Sosa. None received more than 38 percent of the vote. The former Rangers, their vote percentage, and why they won’t ever get in:
- Sammy Sosa (played for the Rangers in 1989, again in 2007), 12.5 percent of ballots, everyone’s pretty sure he took steroids
- Rafael Palmeiro (played for the Rangers from 1989-1993), 8.8 percent of ballots, he actually took steroids
- Kenny Lofton (played for the Rangers in 2007), 3.2 percent of ballots, steals are underrated as a statistic/played on too many different teams, negating his value
- Sandy Alomar, Jr. (played for the Rangers in 2005), 2.8 percent of ballots, injuries stalled his career
- Julio Franco (played for the Rangers from 1989-1993), 1.1 percent of ballots, just kinda old amirite?
- Aaron Sele (played for the Rangers in 1998 and 1999), 0.2 percent of ballots, WHY WAS AARON SELE EVEN ON THE BALLOT?
