CLEVELAND — Last month, former Cleveland Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel failed to get enough votes for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the second consecutive year, but he did see a noticeable increase in support for his candidacy.
Vizquel earned 42.8 percent of the votes (182) in his second year on the ballot, falling short of the required 319 for induction. However, Vizquel got more than the requisite five percent to remain on the ballot and will be under consideration for the Class of 2020.
“I’m feeling great,” Vizquel told WKYC before an appearance at the Lake County Captains’ Hot Stove event in Eastlake Tuesday. “In the voting this year, obviously, I went up six points. Everything seems to be pointing in the right direction. We’re still moving up, and it’s great to see.
“Sometimes, you don’t know what to expect from the voters. There’s new guys coming in and you don’t know what kind of criteria they use to vote, but it’s something that I’m satisfied with. I’m happy. I don’t really worry much, to tell you the truth. I just let them take a look at the numbers, see where I’m standing, and if they think I deserve to be there, great.”
The Indians acquired Vizquel in a trade with the Seattle Mariners after the 1993 season in exchange for first baseman Reggie Jefferson, shortstop Felix Fermin and cash, and the Venezuela native went on to spend the next 11 years making breathtaking barehanded plays in the middle of the Tribe’s infield.
Vizquel won eight straight Gold Glove awards at shortstop and appeared in three All-Star games (1998-1999, 2002) during his time with the Indians.
Although Vizquel was known more for his defensive wizardry than batting prowess during his time in Cleveland, the .283 hitter had a knack for clutch hits and got on base better than 35 percent of the time. Also, he proved willing and able of stretching anything into extra bases, as he swiped 279 of his 404 career stolen bases for an Indians team that featured power hitters like Albert Belle, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez, as well as solid contact hitters in Kenny Lofton and Carlos Baerga.
Vizquel was the No. 2 hitter in the batting order for a franchise that won the American League Central Division six times, made seven trips to the postseason, twice won the AL Pennant, and came within an out of winning the 1997 World Series.
“You just have to be patient about it,” Vizquel said. “I know there have been some great players that sometimes don’t get the voting as you expected, but it can change from one year to another. The steroid era kind of changed that a little bit.”
The soft-handed shortstop carried a .985 fielding percentage, despite having 11,961 defensive chances. He combined with several second basemen, most notably Baerga, a fellow Indians Hall of Famer, and National Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar, to convert 944 double plays over his 11 years in Cleveland, an average 85.8 per season.
Vizquel finished his career with 2,877 hits, the fifth-most ever by a shortstop. Only Honus Wagner (3,420), Yankees captain Derek Jeter (3,383), Cal Ripken Jr. (3,184) of the Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee’s Robin Yount (3,142) had more hits as a shortstop, and all but Jeter, who is yet to be eligible, are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
A lifetime .272 hitter, Vizquel had 456 doubles, 77 triples and 80 home runs along with 951 runs batted in, 1,445 runs scored, 1,028 walks against 1,087 strikeouts, 404 stolen bases, 256 sacrifice hits and 94 sacrifice flies.
Vizquel led the league in sacrifice hits four times in his career (1997, 1999 and 2004 with the Indians and 2005 with the Giants).
“You’re just hoping that you can make an impact with some of these voters and they can say, ‘Yes, he belongs there,’” Vizquel said.