Houston Astros: Lance Berkman snubbed in Hall of Fame voting

On Tuesday, the BWAA voted on the Hall of Fame. They snubbed Houston Astros legend Lance Berkman and he will fall off of future ballots.

The Houston Astros have had multiple Hall of Famers walk through their doors at some point in their careers. Joe Morgan began his journey in Houston before seeing his career take off in Cincinnati. Nolan Ryan continued to build his legacy as an Astro. Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell played all of their incredible careers in Houston.

Those are just a few of the names that donned a Houston Astros uniform that are now enshrined. This year, six former members of the franchise were up for enshrinement. Roger Clemens was on his seventh year, Jeff Kent was on his sixth year, Billy Wagner was on his fourth year, while Andy Pettitte, Lance Berkman, and Roy Oswalt were all on their first year.

None of these six guys were enshrined this year. Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, and Mike Mussina were all enshrined. Rivera became the first player in MLB history to become a unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer.

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Clemens, despite his PEDs history, seems bound to eventually enter the Hall as he increased his total to 59.5% of the vote. Kent and Wagner likely won’t get in as they only received 18% and 17% of the vote. Pettitte will remain on the ballot after he received 10% of the vote. Oswalt and Berkman, on the other hand, received 1.2% and 0.9% of the vote, respectively, and will fall off of the ballot.

Seeing Oswalt fall off of the ballot after his first year is not entirely surprising. He was an All-Star three times and finished in the top five in Cy Young voting on five separate occasions. He was always on the cusp of being an elite player but never actually got there. However, seeing a Houston Astros legend like Berkman fall off of the ballot after one year is simply astounding.

I was never under the delusion that he would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. That is an accomplishment of monumental proportions reserved for only the best of the best players, like Rivera and Halladay. But, seeing him fall off of the ballot after only one year is just mindboggling.

I broke down Berkman’s case for the Hall of Fame about five months ago but let’s just go over the main tenants of his, now failed, case. The former Houston Astros outfielder/first baseman was never known for adept speed and fielding but his bat, especially since he was a switch hitter.

Berkman had a career .293 batting average though he was significantly better, at least in terms of average, from the left side (.307) compared to the right side (.260). He also launched 366 home runs in his career which is a pretty high number for a switch hitter. Berkman was a complete, full hitter who could hurt teams in every aspect of the game, as evidenced by his .943 career OPS.

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His legacy continued after his time in a Houston Astros uniform. He spent half a season with the Yankees before spending two in St. Louis and one in Arlington with Texas’ other team. It was with the Cardinals that his legacy and Hall of Fame candidacy was cemented. He won a World Series that year and played a HUGE role with that team as an offensive juggernaut.

He had a couple of seasons where he was truly one of the most feared hitters in all of baseball, launching over 40 homers and driving in over 120 runs multiple times. He was never the face of baseball while he was in the league but he was definitely one of the greatest hitters while he was in the league, especially when he was in a Houston Astros uniform.

The fact that he only received FIVE votes or 1.2% of all ballots, is a great, great travesty. There was a decent argument that he would never actually make it into the Hall of Fame and that would have been a conversation I would have been willing to have. But, if you told me a week ago that Berkman wouldn’t escape his first year on the ballot, I would have called you a liar.

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As I said this is a travesty and a shame. Honestly, this process is antiquated and I know I’m biased right now but this voting process needs to be re-evaluated. The fact that voters can just opt to not in ballots is also ridiculous. Luckily, Berkman is a shoe in for the Houston Astros own, brand new, franchise Hall of Fame but that’s a consolation prize nonetheless.

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