Scott Rolen was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

It took six tries; it was a long time, but St. Louis Cardinals great Scott Rolen will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Rolen was informed that he was to be enshrined at Cooperstown the following Tuesday. Rolen is the only participant in 2023’s Hall of Fame class voted into by the Baseball Writers Association of America this year.

Scott Rolen was not able to get into the race, getting 76.3 percent of the vote. Players must get 75% of the votes to be inscribed at Cooperstown, a minimum Rolen passed by five votes from 389 votes.

Rolen’s candidacy

Rolen’s candidacy took just a few years to become a reality. In the first year of the ballot, he got just 10.2 percent of the votes. However, his percentage rapidly increased as more attention was placed on his campaign. In his 17 seasons in the major leagues, Rolen put up a .281/.364/.490 in slashing, which included 31 home runs. His OPS+ throughout his career was 122. This means that he hit 22% higher than the league average for that time.

Additionally, Rolen was a wizard on the field. He took home 8 Gold Glove awards during his time in the game and was one of the most effective third basemen to defend in the league. Rolen also took home the Rookie of the Award in 1997. He was also on seven All-Star teams, earned the Silver Slugger in 2002, and won his first World Series with the Cardinals.

Being in the Hall of Fame as a third baseman is not easy for Rolen. The third base is among the lowest-represented position in Cooperstown. According to its calculations, just seventeen third-basemen are inducted. Rolen was the first player to be inducted after Chipper Jones. In the year 2018; before that, no third baseman was chosen from the BBWAA since Wade Boggs in 2005.

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