Baseball HOF Welcomes Newest Class

Vladimir Guerrero, Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Trevor Hoffman, Jack Morris, Alan Trammell. These six baseball legends entered the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, New York this past weekend as the 82nd class to enter the hall of legends since its creation back in 1936. Jones, a former Atlanta Braves player, handled his emotions well during his speech speaking about his wife Taylor. He spoke on how much of a support system she was during his 19 year career with the Braves as well as his parents and Braves fans. Taylor Jones is also close to going into labor as they are expecting a son, destined to be named Chipper as well, in honor of his dad. He molded his game on of course one of the game’s greats, Micky Mantle, who just happened to be his dad’s favorite player. Jones led the Braves to a World Series title back in 1995 and finished his career with a .301 batting average, an impressive 468 home runs, 1,623 RBI. Trevor Hoffman, was more than just your average MLB closing pitcher. This former San Diego Padre could’ve also been named Mr. Padre like the late Tony Gwynn. Although he finished his career with the Milwaukee Brewers, he is a man beloved by the city of San Diego. Many forget he spent his first 3 seasons as a shortstop before giving pitching a hand, and was later known for his tricky changeup. Hoffman also credited his parents for his successful career. Hoffman is accredited with 601 total saves in his career, only second to the greatest closer of all time, former New York Yankee, Mariano Rivera, who finished with 652 saves. Jim Thome, like Jones, thanked his wife for her support. Thome played for six different franchises, but was mainly a Cleveland Indian for a majority of his career throughout the 1990’s and very early 2000’s. The famous lefty finished with 612 home runs and currently sits eighth all-time. He was one RBI shy of hitting 1,700. He scored over 1,500 runs, and drew an incredible 1,747 walks. Vladimir Guerrero, the nine time All-Star, was greeted by hundreds of Dominican Republic flags during his speech which he gave in his native Spanish language. Guerrero’s son Vladimir Jr., is currently the number one prospect in the minors playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. Wearing an Angels hat, he thanked his parents but also the support from his hometown Don Gregorio. The former outfielder batted an average .318, hit 449 home runs, and hit 1,496 RBIs. Jack Morris, four time World Series champion pitched for 18 seasons under the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Cleveland Indians. During the 1980’s Morris led all pitchers with 162 career wins, and 1,629. Alan Trammell was a former teammate of Morris, spending 20 seasons in the majors- all with the Tigers. Trammell was a six time All-Star, earned four Golden Glove awards and three Silver Slugger awards. Having played at least 2,000 games, he currently sits sixth among shortstops with a .977 fielding percentage.