Tim Salmon Falls Off The Hall Of Fame Ballot

On Monday, The BBWAA revealed the voting percentages for the 2012 Hall of Fame class. I wasn’t surprised that the lone inductee was Barry Larkin. The Baseball Bloggers Alliance recommended Larkin and Jeff Bagwell while FanSided would have just enshrined Bagwell. You can view my ballot for both here.

I could complain about the irrational Jack Morris love but that’s been beaten worse than Joe Pesci in Casino. At least he was buried alive and it was over. Instead, since I’m an Angels blog, let’s focus on Tim Salmon for a minute. I, through some randomness, started following the Angels when Salmon and J.T. Snow began their major league careers. A weird core to hitch your wagon to, indeed.

Salmon won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1993 when he hit 31 home runs and a .283/.382/.536 line. Angels GM Jerry Dipoto finished eigth in the ROY voting that year. After 14 seasons, Salmon ended up with 299 home runs, 1,016 RBI and a .282/.385/.498 line. None of that exactly screams Hall of Fame.

Salmon received five votes for the HOF but fell well short of the 5% needed to stay on the ballot next year. The BBWAA Salmon supporters have yet to reveal themselves online. It was a one-and-done for Salmon.

*SIDE STORY* My writng partner, Derwood, at the hanging-by-a-thread site Off Base Percentage attended the 2010 All Star Game in Anaheim. He openly despises the Angels, but free is free and he was off to the ASG. He did promise to bring me a souviner in lieu of scoring me a ticket. So when he ran into Salmon, he saw an opportunity. The exchange did not go well. You should click here and read all about it. It is hilarious. Got my autographed hat though.