There is a new member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers Association of America has voted Scott Rolen into Cooperstown, it was announced Tuesday. Fred McGriff, who was voted into Cooperstown unanimously by the 16-person Contemporary Era Committee in December, is the other member of this year’s two-person 2023 Hall of Fame class.
Rolen was one of 28 players on the BBWAA’s Hall of Fame ballot this year. He appeared on 76.3 percent of submitted ballots and finished only five votes above the 75 percent threshold needed for induction.
Rolen is the 18th third baseman in the Hall of Fame. Thus far, he and Chipper Jones are the only full-time third basemen to begin their careers after 1982 to be voted into Cooperstown.
In parts of 17 MLB seasons from 1996-2012, Rolen authored a .281/.364/.490 batting line with 2,077 hits and 316 home runs. That includes a .298/.380/.532 batting line during his seven-year peak from 1998-2004. Rolen was also a brilliant defender who won eight Gold Gloves. He retired with 70.1 WAR, tenth all-time among third basemen, and went to seven All-Star Games while receiving MVP votes in four seasons. Rolen was also the 1997 NL Rookie of the Year.
We’ll soon find out whether Rolen will wear a Philadelphia Phillies or St. Louis Cardinals cap on his Hall of Fame plaque, though he didn’t have a choice in mind Tuesday night. A blank cap is also possible. Rolen played more games with the Phillies than he did the Cardinals (844 vs. 661), though he had more All-Star Game selections with the Cardinals (four vs. one), and also finished fourth in the NL MVP voting with St. Louis in 2004. Rolen also played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds late in his career.
“On behalf of the entire St. Louis Cardinals organization, I would like to congratulate Scott Rolen on the well-deserved honor of being selected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame,” Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a statement. “Scott was a cornerstone of our infield and lineup during his six seasons in St. Louis, and helped create many fond memories as part of the great Cardinals teams of the mid-2000s.”
