Ex-Yanks Slugger Receives First HOF Vote

On Saturday, Gary Sheffield, a former slugger for the New York Yankees, received his first ballot for the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Class.

Sheffield is currently in his tenth and last year of eligibility to run for office.

The ballot that was revealed by the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Hall of Fame ballot tracker was cast by Adam Rubin, an ESPN Mets reporter and member of the organization.

Sheffield got Rubin’s vote.

In 22 MLB seasons, Sheffield was a member of eight different teams. He played for the Yankees in 2005 and 2006, and while he was batting in 2005, he was selected to his final All-Star Game and won the Silver Slugger award. 294 with 123 RBI and 34 home homers.

Sheffield was a nine-time All-Star, a five-time Silver Slugger (taking home the trophy twice), and a six-time MVP candidate who placed among the top ten. In addition to being 21st all-time in walks (1,475), 27th in home runs (509), 30th in RBI (1,676), and 35th in total bases (4,737), he batted. 292 over his career.

He also won a World Series rings with the Marlins in 1997.

Rubin returned a ballot with votes for 10 players, which is the maximum.

The remaining votes were cast for Gary Sheffield, Chase Utley, Billy Wagner, David Wright, Álex Rodríguez, Pedro Beltrán, Adrian Beltré, Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, and Manny Ramírez.

Beltrán, Jones and Rodríguez also played for the Yankees.

The remaining candidates on the ballot include holdovers Omar Vizquel, Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Jimmy Rollins, Mark Buehrle, Francisco Rodríguez and Torii Hunter, along with first-year candidates Joe Mauer, José Bautista, Bartolo Colon, Adrián González, Matt Holliday, Brandon Phillips, José Reyes and James Shields.

The entire class will be revealed on January 23. Baseball Writers Association of America members must vote by December 31. A select panel will decide in December if any of the finalists for the Contemporary Baseball Era Managers/Executives/Umpires ballot move on to the ceremony the following year, which is scheduled for July 21 in Cooperstown, New York.

A player requires 75 percent of the votes from the BBWAA for induction.