Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garciaparra Highlight Boston First-Timers on Hall of Fame Ballot
The new entries to the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot have a distinct Boston feel to them.
Pedro Martinez, a virtual lock to make the Hall in his first appearance on the ballot, leads the list that was released by the BBWAA on Monday, along with other big time hurlers Randy Johnson and John Smoltz.
The electric Martinez is one of the greatest pitchers in Red Sox history. His 3,154 strikeouts is 13th on the all-time list, while his career ERA of 2.93 puts him as one of just 77 players to have a career ERA under 3.00.
He was named to eight All-Star teams – four of them with the Red Sox – and won two of his three Cy Young Awards in Boston, while the recent MVP-winning campaigns of Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw further remind us how Martinez was robbed of the AL MVP in 1999.
Another big name in Red Sox lore on the list is fan-favorite Nomar Garciaparra. A recent inductee into the Red Sox Hall of Fame, Garciaparra was a five-time All-Star in Boston and was one of baseball’s best hitters in the late 90s and early 2000s. He won two batting titles with the Red Sox, hitting an AL-leading .357 and .372 in back-to-back seasons in 1999 and 2000. His lowest career batting average playing a full season with the Sox came in 2003, when he hit .301.
But there are other Boston connections on the ballot as well. Tom “Flash’’ Gordon spent four seasons with the Red Sox from 1996-99, starting for two seasons before becoming their closer in 1998, where he lead the league with 46 saves and was named an All-Star.
Gordon later played for the Yankees and faced his former team in the 2004 ALCS, where he gave up six runs on 10 hits in 6.2 innings pitched, as the Sox erased a 3-0 series deficit and completed the greatest playoff comeback in baseball history.
Another first timer on this year’s ballot is a player whose name rivals Bucky “Bleepin’’’ Dent in Red Sox infamy: Aaron Boone. Boone’s entry into Red Sox-Yankees history came in his only season with the Yankees in 2003, when in Game 7 of the ALCS, he broke Red Sox fans’ hearts with his pennant-winning, walk-off home run off Tim Wakefield in the bottom of the 11th inning – his only at bat of the game.
Other former Red Sox players getting their first chance for induction include Smoltz (made eight starts for Sox in 2009), Tony Clark (played 90 games for Sox in 2002), and Cliff Floyd (played 47 games for Sox in 2002). The list of ex-Red Sox players returning to the ballot includes Roger Clemens (earned 35.4 percent of votes in 2014), Lee Smith (29.9 percent in 2014), and Curt Schilling (29.2 percent in 2014).
Candidates must earn a minimum of 75 percent of votes to be elected into the Hall of Fame.
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