CLEVELAND — This week, the National Baseball Hall of Fame released its 2024 ballot, with 26 former players set to be considered for for the sport's highest honor. Two of those names are making their respective debuts on the ballot after spending a good chunk of their careers in Cleveland.
Former Indians stars Bartolo Colon and Victor Martinez are among the 26 ex-players listed, with both in their first years of eligibility after last playing Major League Baseball in 2018. The pair spent a combined 14 seasons with the Tribe, and their tenures in Cleveland just missed overlapping by a matter of months.
RELATED: More Guardians coverage from WKYC
Colon's run began in 1997 as part of the Indians team that wound up winning the American League pennant. The right-handed pitcher made his first All-Star appearance the next year, and across five full seasons with the organization never won less than 14 games while tossing at least 200 innings three times. His 212 strikeouts in 2000 would also prove to be a career-high.
In 2002, Colon was off to an amazing start, going 10-4 with a 2.55 ERA in 16 appearances for Cleveland. However, with the glory days of the late '90s long over, the Indians decided to jump-start their rebuilding process and traded Colon to the Montreal Expos. It was a bitter pill for fans to swallow, but it wound up working out in the Tribe's favor, with future team stalwarts Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee being part of the prospect return.
As for Colon, he was only beginning to make his mark, bouncing around with nine additional teams after leaving Canada. He won the AL Cy Young Award for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2005 before injuries took began to take their toll, and by 2012 while with Oakland his reputation had been somewhat tarnished by a suspension for taking performance-enhancing drugs.
But Colon wasn't done writing his story, as the very next year he won 18 games and was an All-Star with the Athletics. He then made his way to the New York Mets, where he became a cult hero not only for his performance on the mound but also for his rotund figure (earning him the nickname "Big Sexy") as well as his adventures at the plate.
Colon last pitched in MLB in 2018, and the Dominican native's 247 career wins remain the most all-time by any Latino pitcher. The four-time All-Star spent more time with the Indians than any other organization, racking up 75 victories along with 15 complete games during that stretch.
Ironically, Colon's time with the Tribe ended just as Martinez's was beginning, as the latter made his big league debut in 2002 less than three months after the former played his final game for the organization. Martinez was part of the "rebuild" made partly possible by the Colon trade, and more than lived up to the hype as perhaps the best offensive catcher in team history.
Over parts of eight seasons with Cleveland, Martinez batted .297 with 103 home runs and 518 RBIs, including three full years averaging at least .300. This stretch included a .301 clip with 25 homers and a career-high 114 RBIs in 2007, the year that saw the Indians make it all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS before losing to the Boston Red Sox.
Unfortunately, as the Tribe's fortunes again fell apart, and as the front office tried to rebuild again Martinez was viewed as a trade chip. The three-time All-Star was sent to Boston at the 2009 deadline for a package that included future No. 1 starter Justin Masterson, but while Martinez was being sent to a contender, he was sad to leave Cleveland, and cried at his locker upon hearing the news. Many fans never forgave general manager Mark Shapiro for sending him packing.
Martinez would make another All-Star squad with the Sox in 2010 followed by one more with the Detroit Tigers in 2014, the same year he finished runner-up in the AL MVP race with a .335 average along with 32 homers and 105 RBIs. By that time, he had transitioned to being a designated hitter and first baseman, and would remain in those roles up until his 2018 retirement. He finished his 16-year career with a .295 average, 2,153 hits, 246 home runs, and 1,178 RBIs.
Aside from Colon and Martinez, fellow Indians legends Manny Ramírez and Omar Vizquel return to the ballot after receiving 33.2% and 19.5% of possible votes a year ago, respectively. Both are considered to have numbers either meeting or exceeding Hall of Fame standards, but both have thus far been kept out for separate reasons — Ramírez for his documented steroid use and Vizquel for allegations of post-retirement misconduct.
Additionally, former Indians second baseman Brandon Phillips is also on the ballot for the first time, although his time in Cleveland was merely incidental to his career as a whole. Despite coming to the Tribe as a centerpiece of the aforementioned Colon trade, he played just 135 games for the club before being unceremoniously dealt in 2006 to the Cincinnati Reds, where he wound up becoming a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner.
To gain induction to the Hall of Fame, players must receive at least 75% of the vote from participating members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Candidates received a maximum of 10 attempts on the ballot, with those receiving less than 5% of the vote being dropped off altogether.
The list of 14 returning nominees from the 2023 voting cycle (along with last year's vote totals and their current year on the ballot) is as follows:
- 1B Todd Helton (72.2%, sixth year)
- RP Billy Wagner (68.1%, ninth year)
- CF Andruw Jones (58.1%, seventh year)
- OF/3B Gary Sheffield (55.0%, 10th and final year)
- CF Carlos Beltrán (46.5%, second year)
- INF Álex Rodríguez (35.7%, eighth year)
- OF Manny Ramírez (33.2%, eighth year)
- Omar Vizquel (19.5%, seventh year)
- SP Andy Pettitte (17.0%, sixth year)
- RF Bobby Abreu (15.4%, fifth year)
- SS Jimmy Rollins (12.9%, third year)
- SP Mark Buehrle (10.8%, fourth year)
- RP Francisco Rodríguez (10.8%, second year)
- OF Torii Hunter (6.9%, fourth year)
Also, here are the 12 names appearing on the ballot for the first time:
- RF/3B José Bautista
- 3B Adrián Beltré
- SP Bartolo Colon
- 1B Adrián González
- LF Matt Holliday
- DH/C Victor Martinez
- C/1B Joe Mauer
- 2B Brandon Phillips
- SS José Reyes
- SP James Shields
- 2B Chase Utley
- 3B David Wright