Ryne Sandberg’s wait for the Hall of Fame may be much longer than anticipated after the former Cubs second baseman fell 128 votes shy of induction in this year’s election.
Sandberg finished a distant sixth in his first year on the ballot, while slugger Eddie Murray became the 38th player selected in his first year and catcher Gary Carter made it on his sixth attempt. Murray, one of the greatest switch-hitters in history with 504 home runs, garnered 423 votes, or 85.3 percent of the total ballots, while Carter tallied 387 votes, or 78 percent. A player must receive 75 percent to be elected.
Sandberg, who won nine straight Gold Gloves and leads all second basemen with 277 career home runs, wound up with 244 votes, or 49.2 percent, suggesting he’ll have a long, hard climb ahead of him if he hopes to convince voters he’s worthy of induction. His brief retirement in 1994-95 and the fact he never played in a World Series may have hurt his total.
He declined to hazard a guess as to why he gathered only about half of all the votes cast by 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
“That’d be all speculation,” Sandberg said. “I have no idea. I think I played my career the way I had to play my career. I had no regrets about any part of it. That’s just the way it went. I can’t speak for anybody or know what anyone was thinking.”
Many electors refuse on principle to vote for players in their first year of eligibility, but Sandberg’s relatively low vote total was still somewhat surprising. Jackie Robinson, Joe Morgan and Rod Carew are the only second basemen to have been selected to the Hall in their first year of eligibility.
Though he obviously was disappointed in the showing, Sandberg tried to keep from being discouraged over his chances of making it in within the next few years.
“I have a lot of support here at home,” he said. “I have a great family, a great wife, so I’m keeping things in perspective, that’s the most important thing. They’ve rallied behind me today, and that’s a nice thing to have.”
Andre Dawson, Sandberg’s former teammate, did not try to hide his disappointment over his fifth-place showing. In his second year on the ballot, Dawson received 248 votes for 50 percent, a slight increase over his 45.3 percent showing in 2002. Dawson appears to be lumped in the same category as Jim Rice, whose vote total fell from 260 last year to 259 on his ninth chance. The criteria for outfielders gaining entrance appears to have changed, and unless one hits more than 500 career home runs (Dawson had 438) or has played in a World Series or two (like Kirby Puckett), the path to Cooperstown is more difficult than it once was.
“You hear a lot of reasons why you probably aren’t really a Hall of Fame [caliber] player,” Dawson said. “Those things sort of open your eyes a little bit to the fact that [you ask yourself] `What are these people watching?'”
The induction of Carter may hearten Dawson and Sandberg. He missed by 155 votes in his first year of eligibility and lost ground the next year when he finished 205 votes short of the cutoff line. But over the next four years, voters slowly embraced the idea that Carter was Hall of Fame material.
Carter is the first Expo to be elected to the Hall and will be inducted in what figures to be the last season in Expos history. The franchise is likely to leave Montreal after the 2003 season. Carter said he doesn’t know if his plaque will have him wearing an Expos cap or a New York Mets cap. The Hall of Fame will make the final decision after consultations with the player.
“That will be discussed sometime next week,” Carter said. “At this point in time, it’s pretty much in their hands. The biggest reason for there even being a decision to be made is the Expos’ [uncertain] future. My heart is torn. I won a championship with the New York Mets and played a lot of years with the Expos.”
Murray was notified of the news on a difficult day. He was attending the funeral of a younger sister, who died on Jan. 2 of a kidney disease.
“Although I dedicated my professional career to the game, I have dedicated my life to my family,” he said in a statement. “The elation I feel by being recognized for my achievements on the field is overshadowed by the anguish of losing someone so dear to me.”
Lee Smith’s chances of making the Hall were dealt a big blow when he finished with only 210 votes, or 42.3 percent, in his first year. Closers continued to get overlooked, though Bruce Sutter actually picked up 28 votes in his 10th year and finished third with 266 votes (53.6 percent). A player with less than 5 percent of the vote is dropped off the ballot. Former Cubs closer Mitch Williams received no votes in his first year of eligibility. Former Twins and White Sox left-hander Jim Kaat also will be dropped from consideration after his 15th and final year of eligibility.
Sandberg hopes he doesn’t have to wait 15 years to find out whether he’ll be included among baseball’s immortals. Making the Hall is not the focus of his life, Sandberg said.
“I don’t know if it’s a burning desire,” he said. “I would never say it was a goal of mine, like trying to win a Gold Glove or a Silver [Slugger Award]. That’s something a player can do, something he can work toward. Getting into the Hall of Fame is something a player has no control over. If it happens, it happens.”
Hall of Fame: A numbers game
A player needed to be named on 75 percent of the 496 ballots (372) to be elected.
PLAYER VOTES
Eddie Murray 423
Gary Carter 387
Bruce Sutter 266
Jim Rice 259
Andre Dawson 248
Ryne Sandberg 244
Lee Smith 210
Career statistics
Gary Carter
REGULAR SEASON
YEAR, TEAM AB R H HR RBI AVG
1974, Mon 27 5 11 1 6 .407
1975, Mon 503 58 136 17 68 .270
1976, Mon 311 31 68 6 38 .219
1977, Mon 522 86 148 31 84 .284
1978, Mon 533 76 136 20 72 .255
1979, Mon 505 74 143 22 75 .283
1980, Mon 549 76 145 29 101 .264
1981, Mon 374 48 94 16 68 .251
1982, Mon 557 91 163 29 97 .293
1983, Mon 541 63 146 17 79 .270
1984, Mon 596 75 175 27 106 .294
1985, NYM 555 83 156 32 100 .281
1986, NYM 490 81 125 24 105 .255
1987, NYM 523 55 123 20 83 .235
1988, NYM 455 39 110 11 46 .242
1989, NYM 153 14 28 2 15 .183
1990, SF 244 24 62 9 27 .254
1991, LA 248 22 61 6 26 .246
1992, Mon 282 24 61 5 28 .216
Totals 7698 1025 2091 324 1224 .262
DIV. SERIES AB R H HR RBI AVG
1 YEAR 19 3 8 2 6 .421
LCS AB R H HR RBI AVG
3 YEARS 70 4 17 0 6 .243
WORLD SERIES AB R H HR RBI AVG
1 YEAR 29 4 8 2 9 .276
Eddie Murray
REGULAR SEASON
YEAR, TEAM AB R H HR RBI AVG
1977, Bal 611 81 173 27 88 .283
1978, Bal 610 85 174 27 95 .285
1979, Bal 606 90 179 25 99 .295
1980, Bal 621 100 186 32 116 .300
1981, Bal 378 57 111 22 78 .294
1982, Bal 550 87 174 32 110 .316
1983, Bal 582 115 178 33 111 .306
1984, Bal 588 97 180 29 110 .306
1985, Bal 583 111 173 31 124 .297
1986, Bal 495 61 151 17 84 .305
1987, Bal 618 89 171 30 91 .277
1988, Bal 603 75 171 28 84 .284
1989, LA 594 66 147 20 88 .247
1990, LA 558 96 184 26 95 .330
1991, LA 576 69 150 19 96 .260
1992, NYM 551 64 144 16 93 .261
1993, NYM 610 77 174 27 100 .285
1994, Cle 433 57 110 17 76 .254
1995, Cle 436 68 141 21 82 .323
1996, Cl-Bal 566 69 147 22 79 .265
1997, Ana 160 13 35 3 15 .219
Totals 11329 1627 3253 504 1914 .287
DIV. SERIES AB R H HR RBI AVG
2 YEARS 28 4 11 1 4 .393
LCS AB R H HR RBI AVG
4 YEARS 66 11 19 4 13 .288
WORLD SERIES AB R H HR RBI AVG
3 YEARS 65 6 11 4 8 .169
Vote totals
Eddie Murray 423
Gary Carter 387
Bruce Sutter 266
Jim Rice 259
Andre Dawson 248
Ryne Sandberg 244
Lee Smith 210
Rich Gossage 209
Bert Blyleven 145
Steve Garvey 138
Jim Kaat 130
Tommy John 116
Jack Morris 113
Alan Trammell 70
Don Mattingly 68
Dale Murphy 58
D.Concepcion 55
Dave Parker 51
F. Valenzuela 31
K. Hernandez 30
No longer eligible
Darryl Kile 7
Vince Coleman 3
Brett Butler 2
Sid Fernandez 2
Rick Honeycutt 2
Tony Pena 2
Darren Daulton 1
Mark Davis 1
Danny Tartabull 1
Danny Jackson 0
Mickey Tettleton 0
Mitch Williams 0
Todd Worrell 0
496 votes cast
372 needed
%%
%%
