JAWS and the 2025 Hall of Fame Ballot: Torii Hunter and Jimmy Rollins

The next article is a part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing have a look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2025 Corridor of Fame poll. For an in depth introduction to this 12 months’s poll, and different candidates within the sequence, use the device above; an introduction to JAWS may be discovered right here. For a tentative schedule and an opportunity to fill out a Corridor of Fame poll for our crowdsourcing challenge, see right here. All WAR figures consult with the Baseball-Reference model except in any other case indicated.

Earlier than Joe Mauer started starring for the Twins, there was Torii Hunter, and earlier than Chase Utley started starring for the Phillies, there was Jimmy Rollins. Hunter, a rangy, acrobatic heart fielder who ultimately received 9 Gold Gloves and made 5 All-Star groups, debuted with Minnesota in 1997 and emerged as a star in 2001, the identical 12 months the Twins selected Mauer with the primary decide of the draft. The pair would play collectively from 2004 to ’07, making the playoffs twice earlier than Hunter departed in free company. Rollins, a compact shortstop who carried himself with a swagger, debuted in 2001 and made two All-Star groups by the point he and Utley started an 11-year run (2004–14) because the Phillies’ common double play mixture. The pair helped Philadelphia to 5 NL East titles, two pennants, and a championship, with Rollins profitable NL MVP honors in 2007 and taking house 4 Gold Gloves.

Hunter and Rollins each loved prolonged and spectacular careers, racking up over 2,400 hits apiece with substantial house run and stolen base totals. From a Corridor of Fame perspective, each have credentials that attraction extra to historically minded voters than to statheads, however of their time on the poll, they’ve gotten little traction. Hunter debuted with 9.5% in 2021 however has but to match that since, ending with 7.3% on the ’24 poll. Rollins debuted with 9.4% in 2022 and has gained a little bit floor in every cycle since, with 14.8% in ’24. Each have been outdistanced by their former teammates, whose superior statistics are a lot stronger regardless of comparatively quick careers; Mauer was elected this previous January, whereas Utley debuted with 28.8%, practically double Rollins’ share. Nonetheless, it seems that this pair will persist on the poll for awhile, with sufficient help for us to maintain reliving their careers and discussing their deserves on an annual foundation. There are far worse fates for Corridor of Fame candidates.

Torii Hunter (7.3% in 2024)

From the 2023 profile intro:

Torii Hunter may go get it. Fluid and sleek whereas patrolling heart discipline, he was famend for his leaping, acrobatic catches and his willingness to sacrifice his physique. He made a robust sufficient impression upon those that watched him that he received 9 Gold Gloves throughout his 19-year profession, greater than all however three heart fielders, specifically Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Andruw Jones. Hunter earned the nickname “Spider-Man” for his capability to climb outfield partitions to steal house runs — one thing he did extra than simply about anyone else throughout his profession — although one try to take action at Fenway Park left him with a damaged ankle, and one other a concussion.

“I’ll do something to get that little white ball. I’ll put my life on the road,” Hunter instructed Sports activities Illustrated’s Albert Chen in 2005, sounding very very similar to the soccer participant he was throughout his highschool days in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Hunter rose from tough circumstances in Pine Bluff, together with a father who was hooked on crack cocaine and buddies who fell into the dead-end life of medication, weapons, and gangs. His athleticism helped him escape, although when he entered skilled baseball as a first-round decide of the Twins in 1993, his expertise was extra uncooked than most.

The event of Hunter’s bat lagged behind his glove early in his profession, however ultimately he improved to turned an above-average hitter with a number of dimensions to his sport. From 2001-13, he averaged 23 homers and 13 steals per 12 months whereas hitting for a 115 OPS+, delighting followers together with his penchant for the spectacular play, and gaining a repute throughout the sport for being a vocal clubhouse chief. In that span, he made 5 All-Star groups and helped the Twins, Angels, and Tigers to the playoffs eight instances, although he by no means bought additional than the American League Championship Sequence with any of them.

Extra right here.

Jimmy Rollins (14.8% in 2024)

From the 2023 profile intro:

Few gamers have ever been extra central to the Phillies than Jimmy Rollins. The truth is, apart from Mike Schmidt, no participant spent extra time in a Phillies’ uniform than Rollins, and even counting the Corridor of Fame third baseman, none collected extra hits or stole extra bases. The pint-sized shortstop — 5-foot-7, 175 kilos based on Baseball Reference — spent 15 of his 17 main league seasons with Philadelphia, the place he was on the heart of the group’s return to competition following a slide into irrelevance on the outset of the Wild Card period.

Rollins was the beginning shortstop on the Phillies’ 5 straight NL East champions from 2007-11, together with their ’08 World Sequence profitable squad — simply the second in franchise historical past — and ’09 pennant winner. A slick fielder who provided pace and pop from either side of the plate atop the lineup, he garnered the nickname “J-Roll” from legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas. J-Roll projected a confidence that bordered on cockiness, and carried himself with a swagger. “We’re the group to beat,” he stated on the outset of the 2007 season, all however thumbing his nostril on the reigning NL East champion Mets, who had outdistanced the Phillies by 12 video games.

After shedding their first three video games and 10 of their first 13 to begin the 2007 season — together with two out of three at Shea Stadium, the place he was booed lustily by New York followers — the Phillies didn’t spend a day in first place till September 27, after they tied the Mets with three video games remaining. Whereas they took two out of three from the Nationals, the Mets dropped two of three from the Marlins. Not solely was Philadelphia again within the playoffs after a 14-year absence, setting off a run throughout which the group turned simply the fifth to win 5 straight division titles, however Rollins took house NL MVP (Most Priceless Prognosticator) honors. A 12 months later, he added a World Sequence ring to a set that additionally grew to incorporate 4 Gold Gloves.

Extra right here.