- Associated Press - Thursday, July 18, 2019

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - A look at the players, in alphabetical order, to be inducted Sunday into the Baseball Hall of Fame:

___

HAROLD DOUGLAS BAINES: Born March 15, 1959 in Easton, Maryland. … 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, batted and threw left. … drafted first overall by Chicago White Sox in 1977. … played 22 seasons, from 1980-2001, for the White Sox, Rangers, Athletics, Orioles and Indians. … six-time All-Star. … two-time winner of the DH of the year award. … batted .300 eight times and reached the 20-homer mark 11 times. … drove in 90 or more runs eight times and ranks 34th all-time with 1,628 RBIs. … among batters who played at least half his games as a designated hitter, his 2,866 hits rank first and his 384 homers and 1,628 RBIs rank third, behind only David Ortiz and Frank Thomas. … drove in more than 100 runs at age 26 in 1985 and accomplished the feat again at age 40 in 1999, the 13 seasons the longest span between 100-RBI seasons of any player in MLB history. … never drew more than 6.1 percent of the vote in five Hall of Fame elections by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, far from the 75 percent required. … picked in December by a veterans committee.

___

HARRY LEROY HALLADAY III: Born May 14, 1977 in Denver. … 6-foot-6, 225 pounds, batted and threw right. … drafted by Toronto Blue Jays in first round (17th) in 1995. … pitched 12 seasons for the Blue Jays and four for the Phillies. … won Cy Young Awards in 2003 with the Blue Jays and 2010 with the Phillies, posting a record of 203-105 with 2,117 strikeouts, 592 walks and an ERA of 3.38. … pitched 67 complete games, 20 of them shutouts. … finished in the top five of his league’s Cy Young voting in five other seasons. … eight-time All-Star. … led his league in complete games seven times, the most of any player whose career started after 1945. … threw two no-hitters for the Phillies in 2010, one a perfect game against the Marlins, the other against the Reds in the NLDS. … after the 2013 season, Halladay signed a one-day contract to go back to the Blue Jays and announce his retirement. … inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017. … died Nov. 7, 2017 in a private plane crash into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Coast at age 40. … Blue Jays retired his number 32 on opening day 2018.

___

EDGAR MARTINEZ: Born Jan. 2, 1963 in New York City. … 6-foot, 175 pounds, batted and threw right. … signed by the Mariners after attending American College in Puerto Rico. … played 18 seasons, 1987-2004, all with Seattle. … had a career batting average of .312 with 2,247 hits, including 514 doubles and 309 homers, and drove in 1,261 runs while scoring 1,219 times. … seven-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner … won two AL batting titles, .343 in 1992 and .356 in 1995. … led league in on-base percentage three times. … named AL’s outstanding designated hitter five times. … in final 13 games of the 1995 season hit .396 with a 1.068 OPS and led the majors with a .479 OBP, 1.107 OPS, 185 OPS+ and 52 doubles. … when he retired was one of only six players with a .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage and 300 homers. … on the last day of the 2004 season, MLB announced the annual Designated Hitter Award would be known as the Edgar Martinez Award.

___

MICHAEL COLE MUSSINA: Born Dec. 8, 1968 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. … 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, batted left and threw right. … selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the 1987 amateur draft. … pitched 10 seasons for the Orioles (1991-2000) and eight seasons for the Yankees (2001-09). … posted a record of 270-153, pitching 3,362.2 innings with 2,813 strikeouts, 785 walks, and an ERA of 3.68. … had 57 complete games in 536 starts. … won seven Gold Gloves and retired with a career fielding average of .980, including eight perfect seasons in which he handled 297 total chances without an error. … five-time All-Star. … finished nine times in the top six in voting for the Cy Young Award. … first AL pitcher to win 10 or more games in 17 straight seasons. … became the oldest player to notch his first 20-win season, reaching the plateau at age 39 in 2008, his last season in the major leagues.

__

MARIANO RIVERA: Born Nov. 29, 1969, in Panama City. … 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, batted and threw right. … signed as an amateur free agent with the New York Yankees in 1990. … first Hall of Fame candidate to be unanimously selected for induction. … pitched in 1,115 games, fourth all-time and most in AL history, with 10 starts over 19 seasons (1995-2013), all with the New York Yankees. … compiled a record of 82-60 with a 2.21 ERA and 1,173 strikeouts in 1,283.2 innings with a WHIP of 1.000. … baseball’s all-time saves leader with 652. … finished a record 952 games. … in 96 postseason appearances was 8-1 with a WHIP of 0.76 and posted 11 saves in the World Series. … holds postseason records for saves (42), most consecutive scoreless innings pitched (33 1-3), most games (96), and most consecutive save opportunities converted (23). … 13-time All-Star. … retired the side in order in 229 of his 491 three-out saves, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. … on teams that won seven American League pennants and five World Series. … only reliever to win both a league championship series MVP award (2003) and World Series MVP award (1999). … recorded an ERA under 2.00 in 11 seasons, tying Walter Johnson for the top spot with a minimum of 60 innings pitched. … led major leagues in saves three times, 45 in 1999, 50 in 2001, and 53 in 2004. … AL Comeback of the Year Award winner in 2013. … last player in the major leagues to wear No. 42, grandfathered when it was retired in honor of Jackie Robinson in 1997.

___

LEE ARTHUR SMITH: Born Dec. 4, 1957 in Jamestown, Louisiana. … 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, batted and threw right. … drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the 1975 MLB amateur draft. … pitched in 1,022 games over 18 seasons for the Cubs, Red Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, Orioles, Angels, Reds and Expos, compiling a record of 71-92 and 478 saves with an ERA of 3.03, 1,251 strikeouts and 486 walks in 1,289.1 innings. … his 478 saves and 802 games finished rank third all-time. … seven-time All-Star. … league leader in saves four times and reached 30-save mark 11 times with a high of 47 in 1991, winning the NL Fireman of the Year Award. … 168 of his saves required at least four outs and 94 required two or more innings of work. … picked for Hall of Fame in December by a veterans committee.

___

More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide