Scott Lawlen, ‘8th Gold Glove Award,’ Joining MLB Hall of Fame
Scott Rollen (48), who played as the best third baseman in the Major League Baseball (MLB) when he was active, was elected as a witness to the Hall of Fame this year.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) released the results of the vote on the 24th, which selected the Hall of Fame participants.
Rollen is the only one of the 28 candidates to be inducted into the Hall of Fame through BBWAA voting this year.
If the BBWAA vote exceeds 75% of the vote, he will be elected as a Hall of Fame member, with 297 votes and 76.3% of the vote.
In order to be nominated for the Hall of Fame, a player who has played in the Major League for more than 10 years must pass five years after retirement.
After retiring in 2012, Rollen first qualified as a candidate in 2018. In the 2018 vote, the first challenge, only 10.2 percent of the votes were cast, but since then, it has gradually increased its vote share. Rollen, who received 63.2 percent of the vote last year, was honored to enter the Hall of Fame in his sixth challenge.
After making his big league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1996, Rollen played 17 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (2002–2007), the Toronto Blue Jays (2008–2009), and the Cincinnati Reds (2009–2012). In 1997, he was voted the National League Rookie of the Year by a unanimous vote.
Scott Lawlen batted .281316 home runs and 1,287 RBIs in 2038 games. He also won eight Gold Glove awards for his outstanding defense skills. He was also selected as an All-Star seven times.
In this year’s vote, Colorado Rockies slugger Todd Helton won 72.2% of the vote in his fifth challenge, promising to be next. It was disappointing that 11 votes were not enough for the admission standard.
Jeff Kent, who played as a second baseman for the San Francisco Giants and LA Dodgers, failed to enter the Hall of Fame as he remained at 46.5% (181 votes) of the vote in his last 10th challenge.
Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, who were disciplined for taking banned drugs during their active career, received only 35.7% (139 votes) and 33.2% (129 votes), respectively.
Carlos Beltrán, who has a stain on the Houston Astros’ “sign stealing scandal” despite his outstanding performance, won 46.5 percent of the votes, the highest among the candidates who challenged for the first time this year.
Scott Rollen will attend the Hall of Fame entrance ceremony in Cooperstown, New York, in July with Fred McGriff, who was selected as a witness through a vote by the modern baseball age players committee composed of senior baseball players.