Former Pirates A.J. Burnett, Aramis Ramirez among 11 players eligible for HOF ballot
Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett and third baseman Aramis Ramirez are among 11 first-time eligible players on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which is being mailed to voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America this week.
Burnett had a 164-157 record with a 3.99 ERA in 17 seasons with the Marlins, Blue Jays, Yankees, Pirates and Phillies. The right-hander threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on May 12, 2001, as a member of the Marlins, and won the World Series in 2009 with the Yankees. Burnett also led the league in starts twice (34, in ’08 and ’14) strikeouts per nine innings twice (9.4 in ’08 and 9.8 in ’13) and total strikeouts once (231, in ’08). In three seasons with the Pirates (2012-13 and ’15), Burnett was 35-28 with a 3.34 ERA in 87 starts.
Ramirez will go down as one of the best slugging third basemen in the game, as he completed an 18-year career with the Pirates, Cubs and Brewers with 2,303 career hits, 386 home runs and 1,417 RBIs. The three-time All-Star had 10 seasons with 20 or more homers, including four with 30 or more, seven seasons with at least 100 RBIs and seven seasons in which he batted .300 or higher. He won the Silver Slugger award in 2011 with the Cubs. In seven seasons with the Pirates, Ramirez batted .261 with 82 home runs and 349 RBIs.
Also joining Burnett and Ramirez in first-time eligibility are pitchers Mark Buehrle, Dan Haren, LaTroy Hawkins, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito and infielder-outfielder Michael Cuddyer and outfielders Torii Hunter, Nick Swisher and Shane Victorino.
They join 14 holdovers from the 2020 balloting, including former Pirates great Barry Bonds, who received 60.7% of the votes last year but fell short of the 75% required for election. Also on the ballot are Bobby Abreu, Roger Clemens, Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, Andy Pettitte, Manny Ramirez, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa, Omar Vizquel and Billy Wagner.
Candidates can remain on the ballot for up to 10 years, provided they receive at least 5% of the vote. Bonds has two years of eligibility remaining for Hall candidacy.
Results will be announced Jan. 26 on MLB Network. Induction is scheduled for the weekend of July 23-26, 2021, in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Shortstop Derek Jeter and outfielder Larry Walker were elected last year but will be inducted with the 2021 class.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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