Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Announced
The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced the enshrines in the class of 2024 by way of votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The inductees they named are third baseman Adrian Beltre, first baseman Todd Helton, and catcher Joe Mauer. They join manager Jim Leyland as part of the next class of baseball legends. Out of the thousands that have played, coached, or contributed to the game, 347 of them have made it to baseball immortality in Cooperstown, New York.
Leyland is the first manager in ten years to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, when Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Tony La Russa were inducted together in 2014. Leyland led the Florida Marlins to the 1997 World Series where they won against the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers to the 2006 and 2012 World Series. Leyland compiled a 1,769-1,728 record as a manager over a nearly 30-year career in managing.
Beltre received 95.1% of the vote swatted 477 home runs, 3,166 hits, and 1,707 runs batted in. Beltre won an American League pennant in 2011 with the Texas Rangers. Before he played for the Rangers, he had a one-year stint with the Boston Red Sox in 2010.
Helton received 79.7% of the vote in his sixth year of eligibility, a reward for a 17-year career with the Colorado Rockies. Helton leads all Rockies in hits, RBIs, home runs, and doubles, among other statistics.
Mauer is the first player to be drafted and debut in 2000 or later to be inducted, since he was drafted first overall by his hometown Twins in 2001. The 2009 AL MVP won a whopping three batting titles in 2006, 2008, and 2009 and finished with a .304 batting average for his career. However, he only had 2,123 hits, 143 home runs, and 923 RBIs, and won only three Gold Gloves. The inductees will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame on July 21st.
