Tommy John's Ridiculous Hall of Fame Claim

The MLB Hall of Fame is among the most prestigious honors their players can get honoring their career. Many notable players are not in the Hall of Fame, including Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Pete Rose, "Shoeless "Joe Jackson, and many more. One other name that surprisingly isn't in the Hall of Fame is pitcher Tommy John.

Tommy John had an awe-inspiring career in baseball. He played for 26 years with multiple teams including the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, California Angels, and Oakland Athletics. John put up some impressive stats for the length of his career with a 3.34 ERA, 61.6 WAR, 1.28 WHIP, 2,245 strikeouts, and a 288-231 win-loss record. He is also known for being the first person in the MLB to undergo UCL reconstructive surgery. That is often regarded in sports as Tommy John's Surgery.

Surprisingly, Tommy John is not in the Hall of Fame. Tommy John never received more than 31.7% of the vote to get him in. He needed 75% of the votes to get into the MLB Hall of Fame. It was stunning that Tommy John isn't in with to how great of a player he is and his important medical in baseball getting the now famous and common Tommy John's Surgery.

Tommy John a few days ago went on the Michael Kay show for an interview and the Hall of Fame topic was brought up. John gave an answer that was the most ridiculous thing that he had ever said in his life. The 81-year-old was quoted saying "Maybe because I voted for Donald Trump... Probably... I don't know. I have no idea. If I knew and I could do something, I would do it. But I can't."

Here is the problem with that statement, it's 100% not true. Tommy John was on the Hall of Fame ballot from 1995 to 2009. He also wasn't voted in by the Veteran Committee in 2011 and 2014. How is it possible that his voting for Trump is the reason he's not in the Hall of Fame if Trump ran for office in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections? It's so ridiculous that he would make this claim as to why he is not in the MLB Hall of Fame.

John has a great case for arguing he should be in the Hall of Fame and in my opinion, he should be in it. Blaming why he is not because of a political vote is just ridiculous and completely incorrect. It was stunning hearing him say that and it's not because of the political factor, because I could care less who he or anybody voted for. It's ridiculous that he believes that is a thing, to begin with and would make that public because a ton of fans are calling him out on it.

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