On Jan. 23rd, the MLB unveiled three new Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. The 2024 Hall of Fame class consists of Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer. All Hall of Fame inductees were voted in by the the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BWAA), an organization of journalists who cover professional baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and websites. Beltré, Helton and Mauer are joining former player and manager Jim Leyland, who was voted in on Dec. 3, 2023 by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, as the most recent inductees.
Beltré swung right past the 75% threshold required to be elected, as his name was checked on 366 of 385 BBWAA ballots for roughly 95.1% of the votes. Helton and Mauer both managed to pass the threshold as well with 307 and 293 votes respectively. The class of 2024 will be inducted in Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, on July 21.
Beltré is widely considered to be one of the greatest third basemen of all time, and he was known for his standout combination of fielding and hitting ability. After being signed at just 15 years old by the Los Angeles Dodgers and finding success in the minor leagues, he made his MLB debut at 19 years old. He played a total of 21 seasons for the Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers. During that period, he amassed 3,166 hits and 477 home runs and was also named an All-Star four times. He also won five Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves along with four Silver Sluggers. The Dominican is one of 38 players in the history of the National Baseball Hall of Fame to receive over 90% of the available votes, and one of just 19 to receive more than 95%.
Helton was drafted in 1995 out of the University of Tennessee, three years before Beltre’s major league debut, and spent two years in the minor leagues before kicking off his own MLB career. He spent all of his 17 seasons in the league with the Colorado Rockies and is the most decorated player in the history of the franchise. Garnering a reputation as an offensive dynamo during his prime, he accumulated 2,519 hits and 369 home runs over his career. He was named an All-Star five times, won four Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves and won a batting title in 2000. Though his career was eventually hampered by injury, Helton is still one of only two Rockies players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining his former teammate Larry Walker, who was inducted in 2021.
Mauer came into the MLB as a three-sport standout, having played basketball and football in addition to baseball in high school. He decided to forgo playing in college in favor of entering the 2001 MLB Draft. Like Helton, Mauer spent his entire career with one team, his hometown Minnesota Twins. The catcher and first baseman played 15 seasons, collecting 2,123 hits, 143 home runs,6 All-Star nods, 5 Silver Sluggers, 3 Gold Gloves and 3 batting titles. In the 2009 season, he led the MLB in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, becoming the first catcher to do so and earning his first and only American League MVP award. Despite injuries, a position change and what fans saw as a decline in performance late in his career, he will be joining 37 other Twins players in Cooperstown as a First Ballot Hall-of-Famer.
Established in 1936, the National Baseball Hall of Fame is aimed towards preserving history, honoring excellence and connecting generations, per its mission statement. To be eligible for election, a player must be 5 years past retirement, have 10 years of Major League experience and pass a screening committee. Those who fulfill these conditions are listed on a final ballot, from which electors may choose up to 10 players to vote for. A player who receives less than 5% of the votes is dropped from future ballots. Electors are comprised of members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for cases of recently retired players and the Veterans Committee for other cases. To be able to vote, a member of the panel must have more than 10 years of BBWAA membership and must have actively covered the MLB in the preceding 10 years.
Helton was inducted in his eighth year of eligibility while Beltré and Mauer were inducted in their first year.
