Three New Hall of Famers Elected Today

Today's Hall of Fame announcement added three new Hall of Famers to the Hall roster and also three new baseballs will be added to my Hall of Fame cabinet.  Well, they'll be moved from one side of the cabinet to another, but they will move.

I got the above Ivan Rodriguez baseball last year from my friend, Sam.  We worked out a deal and I landed this ball, which he had signed in person.  The ball is a Texas League ball, but that is fine with me.

Rodriguez (b. 1971) played in the majors from 1991 to 2011 for the Rangers, Marlins, Tigers, Yankees, Astros and Nationals.  He had 2,844 hits, 311 home runs and a .296 batting average,  He was a 14-time All Star, 13-time Gold Glove Award Winner and a 7-time silver slugger.  He was the 1999 AL MVP, 2003 NLCS MVP and won the World Series with the Marlins in 2003.

Rodriguez was elected to the Hall of Fame today when he was named on 76% of the ballot, his first year of eligibility.  That's right, Pudge is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

I picked up this Jeff Bagwell baseball from an auction at Collect Auctions a couple years ago, in anticipation that he would get the call. It took some time, but he finally got in this year.

Bagwell (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1991 to 2005 for the Astros.  He had 2,314 hits, 449 home runs and a .297 batting average.  He was the 1991 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1994 NL MVP.  He received MVP votes in 10 of the 15 seasons in which he played.  He was an All Star 4 times, Silver Slugger 3 times and a Gold Glove Award winner once.  He was elected to the Hall today when he received 86.2% of the vote.  This was his 7th time on the ballot.

I met Tim Raines at the National this past summer and got him on this baseball.  Much like Bagwell, I picked up the ball in anticipation of "when" not "if" Raines would be elected.  I even told Raines when I met him that I looked forward to today to hear his name called.  This is something that has been a long time coming and well deserved.

Raines (b. 1959) played in the majors from 1979 to 1999, 2001 and 2002 for the Expos, White Sox, Yankees, A's, Orioles and Marlins.  He had 2,605 hits, 170 home runs and a .294 batting average.  He was the 1986 NL batting champ.  He was a 7-time All Star and a Silver Slugger (1986).  Raines led the NL in stolen bases four times and retired with 808, 5th all-time.  He won the World Series in 1996 with the Yankees.

Raines was named on 86.0% of the ballots today, finally ending his quest to make it into the Hall.  This was his 10th and final year of eligibility.

Adding Rodriguez, Bagwell and Raines pushes my Hall of Fame total up to 132.

Awesome Mail From Sam - Ivan Rodriguez Signed Baseball and Rangers Gnome

I completed a trade with my buddy, Sam, who sent me the above Ivan Rodriguez signed baseball and a Texas Rangers gnome.

I have been friends with Sam for a while on Instagram, and we have made quite a few deals.  I send him most of the Mariners cards that I come across, and he hooks me up with some IP autos and Orioles stuff.

According to Sam, he met Pudge last year at an event and got two baseballs signed.  One was an OMLB ball and the other was the ball that he sent me, a Texas League ball.  The ball actually looks like it is game used.  It might be, but I'll have to ask Sam to be sure.  He provided me with a photo of himself and Pudge, even though I didn't doubt that the auto was legit.

I'm going to hold off my normal recitation of Pudge's stats, since I believe he will get into the Hall of Fame soon.

The other item (aside from a few cards) that Sam sent was this Texas Rangers gnome from a giveaway.  I'm not a Rangers fan, but I love giveaway items.  Sam included this gnome because I sent him some stuff (including a rally towel) from Orioles Fan Fest.  This will take a nice spot in one of my display cabinets along with my bobble heads.

Thanks so much for the trade, Sam!  I really appreciate it.  I hope we can get some more going, soon.

More on the Trade With Schuyler

So, I discussed my trade with Schuyler here.  Here are a few of the other highlights from the deal.

He threw in a few 2011 Topps cards.  One of which is this Ivan Rodriguez.  He is seen here talking to Stephen Strasburg.  It seems that Topps likes the relationship between Pudge and Strasburg, as they have shown the duo on several cards, now.

Another cool card is this Kaz Sasaki relic out of Fleer Tradition.  Sasaki was a really good player in MLB, albeit, for a very short time.  He was Seattle's Ichiro, before there was Ichiro.

I traded Schuyler some shiny cards as well as a partial 1987 Topps set (complete with a Bonds RC) for the Bechler auto and these cards (as well as several others which aren't pictured).

Schuyler is a really cool dude and you should check out his blog if you haven't already.  make sure to click 'follow' so he knows people are interested in what he has to say.  I look forward to doing a lot more trades with him in the future.