Ripken and Gwynn are joined forever or we can say they share the same soul. Yes, Hall of Fame voters embraced Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn. Among the 15 players other than Gwynn and Ripken on the ballot for the first time, only McGwire and Harold Baines received the 5% of the votes necessary to remain in consideration.
But Mark McGwire couldn’t manage to gain popularity because of his steroid-tainted past. Ripken was listed on 98.53% of the 545 ballots, the third highest in the history of baseball Writers Assn. of America balloting, and Gwynn ranks seventh after getting 97.6% of the votes. Ripken established a record by being named on 537 ballots, breaking the previous mark of 491 by Nolan Ryan in 1999.
Hall Of Fame Winners
Gwynn and Ripken co-existed during the same era, playing their entire careers near their hometowns for a single Major League team, while dominating their respective leagues. Gwynn was a 15-time All-Star who won eight batting titles and had a .338 career batting average, the 20th highest all-time. Ripken won a second MVP award in 1991 and finished his career with 3,184 hits, 431 home runs and 1,695 runs batted in. Both the stars had tremendous track records and their patience has been paid with Hall of Fame rewards. I wish them all the good luck in their future endeavors.