Scott Rolen’s Hall of Fame 2021 Results

ST. LOUIS – Although there were no new players elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021, Scott Rolen saw a huge increase in support among the Baseball Writers Association of America ballots sent out this year. The former Cardinals third baseman appeared on 52.9% of the ballots (212), a

ST. LOUIS – Although there were no new players elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021, Scott Rolen saw a huge increase in support among the Baseball Writers Association of America ballots sent this year.

The former Cardinals third baseman appeared on 52.9% of ballots (212), a significant jump from 35.3% of ballots last year and 17.2% the year before. He was fourth in the vote, with Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens the only candidates to receive more votes than Rolen.

Now there is a clear path for his election and he has six more years to win at least 75% of the votes needed to enter.

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Support for Rolen’s Hall of Fame skyrocketed as the shift towards analysis became even more pronounced – his career WAR of 70.1, according to the Baseball Reference, is the highest for any eligible third baseman not yet in the Hall of Fame. His defensive skills in the hot corner and career .855 OPS also came into play.

Some of Rolen’s best seasons over his 17-year career have been spent in St. Louis. He won four of his eight Gold Glove Awards with the Cards, and only the Hall of Fame Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt won more Gold Gloves on third base. Rolen also hit 316 home runs and stole 118 bases. His best season was in 2004, when he hit 0.314 / 0.409 / 0.598 with 34 home runs and 124 RBIs as part of the colossal St. Louis team that won 105 games.

St. Louis native and longtime White Sox star Mark Buehrle received 11% of the vote in his first year of eligibility, more than the 5% needed to remain in the vote. The southpaw has won 214 games in his 16-season career, playing a perfect game without batting.

This is the first time since 2013 that the BBWAA has not elected anyone, and with the Early Baseball Era Committee elections postponed to the next off-season because of the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no new group introduced in 2021. But because the Class Se the 2020 induction has been delayed by a year by the pandemic, there will still be inductees welcome to the Hall this summer. This group includes former Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons, elected by the Modern Baseball Era Committee last year, and former Cards external defender Larry Walker, who was elected in his final year in the BBWAA vote.