It's that time of year again...nope not the holiday season, but rather the dreadful part of the offseason where everyone, including Atlanta Braves fans, gets upset about public Hall of Fame ballots. The deadline for BBWAA voters to have their ballots is approaching at the end of the month, and the results are set to be announced on Jan. 21.
Braves fans have witnessed Andruw Jones' Hall of Fame votes rise over the years and he's trending towards the 75% threshold needed as he enters his last few years on the ballot. Because Jones was such a big part of the Braves' success during his career, plenty have made his Hall of Fame case in recent years.
Instead, we'll focus on a couple of one-year Braves who should get more Hall of Fame consideration.
Billy Wagner and Kenny Lofton deserve to be in the Hall of Fame
The first player is a man who enters his 10th and final year on the ballot. Outside of unanimously voted in Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner was perhaps the most dominant closer of his generation. Wagner spent his 16th and final big league season in Atlanta in 2010. Braves fans of course remember that year as one of the most dominant years we've seen from a closer.
In that 2010 season Wagner pitched to a 1.43 ERA, 2.10 FIP, with 37 saves, and 104 strikeouts. Over his lengthy career Wagner owned a 2.31 ERA, 2.73 FIP, a sub 1.00 WHIP, and racked up nearly 1,200 K's in 903 innings of work. Hopefully, those stellar numbers finally pay off in a months time, as Wagner fell just five votes short (73.8%) of being inducted last year.
"It's nerve-racking as ever."
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 28, 2024
Billy Wagner talks about his Hall of Fame candidacy and tells the legendary story of how he started throwing left handed. #MLBTonight pic.twitter.com/4yg33drgHi
The latter player is an often forgotten Brave who spent just one season with the club in 1997. The electric Kenny Lofton played in Atlanta in between lengthy stints with Cleveland. Lofton was an All-Star for the Braves in 1997 when he carried a .333/.409/.428.
Lofton led his respective league in steals for five consecutive seasons from 1992-1996. He was also a six-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner. Lofton's 68.4 bWAR ranks him in the top ten of all-time centerfielders. Shockingly, Lofton lasted just one year on the Hall of Fame ballot, collecting just 3.2% of the vote in 2013.
If Lofton were to be on the ballot today he certainly would eclipse that 5% threshold needed to remain on the ballot. Given how we've seen players numbers increase each year it's not far fetched to believe Lofton would've been elected after some time spent on the ballot. Sadly, he never got that chance and now his Cooperstown chances lie with a committee that meets every two years and is notoriously stingy.