“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” – Baseball Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby
Back in Hornsby’s playing days, we didn’t have free agent signings, late or early baseball card product drops, or mlbtraderumors.com to keep the baseball fires burning during the off-season.
There also wasn’t the annual Hall of Fame vote to draw fans around the hot stove to argue about who deserved to be inducted. Hornsby, who was elected to the Hall of Fame himself in 1942, would probably consider the discussions about the greats of the past a lifeline to survive the off-season.
Thankfully, today we have lots to scratch that baseball itch during the off-season, and the announcement of the Hall of Fame voting results remains a highlight.
But when was the new crop of inductees announced? Who got in? Who missed out? Who’s trending toward future enshrinement? And what does this all mean for the rookie cards of the players involved?
The BBWAA announced the results of the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame 2024 Hall of Fame vote live from Cooperstown on MLB Network at 6 p.m. ET. The 2024 Induction ceremony will take place on Hall of Fame Weekend on Sunday, July 21.
As a refresher, a player becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame 5 years after their last season in the big leagues. The Baseball Writers Association of America BBWAA votes each December for a slate of new and returning candidates.
A vote total of 75% or higher gets a player elected to the Hall of Fame. A vote total under 5% sees a player dropped from the ballot. A player can appear on the ballot for up to 10 years.
First-year candidate Adrian Beltre has a Hall of Fame case that’s hard to argue against. He finished his career with over 3,000 hits and slugged 477 home runs while playing Gold Glove defense at third base. The voters easily elected Beltre with 95.1% of the vote.
Beltre’s rookie cards appear in 1997 Bowman products, including 1997 Bowman Adrian Beltre #194, 1997 Bowman Chrome Adrian Beltre #182, and 1997 Bowman’s Best Adrian Beltre #117.
Todd Helton appeared on 72.2% of the ballot last year and seemed well-positioned to cross the 75% threshold in 2024. Right up to the announcement it looked too close to call for Helton. He had several writers who formerly voted for him leave him off the ballot this year. In the end, though, a late push from those voters who’s ballots were not made public before the announcement pushed Helton over the line. He finished with 79.7% of the vote this time around, once again setting him well for 2025.
Helton’s sole rookie card is the 1993 Topps Traded Todd Helton #19T and the much rarer Bazooka version.
Joe Mauer is another first-year candidate with impeccable credentials. A three-time batting champ and Gold Glove winner, Mauer also won an AL MVP award. Mauer’s 55.2 career WAR ranks 9th all-time among catchers. Mauer appeared on 76.1% of ballots.
Mauer’s rookie cards appear in 2002 products. There are several options across price ranges, with the 2002 Bowman Joe Mauer #379, 2002 Topps Joe Mauer #622, and 2002 Topps Chrome Joe Mauer #622 among the most sought-after.
Getting 75% of the vote is an incredibly high standard to attain. One candidates found himself tantalizingly close to the threshold, but just under it. It sets him up well for a potential election in 2025.
Billy Wagner appeared on 68.1% of ballots in the 2023 vote, and gained some ground in 2024, ending up at 73.8%. 2025 will be his 10th and final time on the ballot. If Wagner can get over the cusp and into the Hall will be one of the biggest stories of the 2025 election.
Billy Wagner’s rookie cards appear in 1994 products, including 1994 Bowman Billy Wagner #642.
When Gary Sheffield debuted on the ballot in 2015 with 11.7% of the vote, few would have thought he’d be on the cusp of election 10 years later. It’s not that his Hall of Fame credentials on the field and from a reputational perspective are solid. But Sheffield also appeared in the Mitchell Report and is associated with PED use.
But Sheffield’s vote total has risen steadily over the years, and he landed at 55% in 2023. He took another jump forward in 2024, his final go-around on the BBWAA ballot, but finished short at 63.9%.
This sets him up well for eventual induction via the era’s committee when some of his PED-using peers break through and start to get inducted. I don’t think Sheffield is first, but could be in the second group after Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire.
Sheffield’s rookie cards appear in 1989 products, at the height of the junk wax era. The 1989 Upper Deck Gary Sheffield #13 is probably the best base offering. The Bowman Tiffany and Topps Tiffany offer probably the best investment posture as they’re far rarer than the base versions.
A few other players made notable moves up the board, boding well for their future induction.
Andruw Jones continued his steady climb in 2024, moving from 58.1% in 2023 to 61.6% in 2024. With three more tries, Jones looks like a player who will be elected at some point soon. Jones rookie cards appear in 1995, and include the 1995 Bowman Andruw Jones #23.
Carlos Beltran, in his second year on the ballot, made a nice jump after debuting at a solid 46.5% in 2023. His 2024 total climbed to 57.1%, showing that some voters who dinged him for his role in the 2017 Houston Astros “trash can” scandal have relented.
Beltran is a bit of an “under the radar” Hall of Famer among the general populace, so his eventual election, which appears to be on track, will surprise some people, perhaps giving his cards a boost. Beltran’s 1995 Topps Traded #18T rookie card doesn’t actually picture Beltran due to it being an error card, but that won’t stop it from getting a little boost when he is eventually inducted.
Speaking of ballot debuts, there’s only two players new to the ballot this year who will remain on the ballot in 2025, and one had a solid vote total suggesting he has at least a good chance at future induction. The other, David Wright, just managed to stay on the ballot with 6.2% of the vote.
That player is Chase Utley. Utley appeared on 28.8% of the votes in his first appearance. That suggests at least a solid chance of eventual induction. This bodes well for the future value of Utley’s only two rookie cards, the 2001 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chase Utley #BDP69 and 2001 Bowman Heritage Chase Utley #304.
Beyond the players mentioned so far, no other players beyond Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez, whose failed PED tests and suspensions will keep them out of the Hall for the foreseeable future, reached even 30% on the ballot.
While I think several of these players deserve strong consideration for the Hall of Fame (Pettitte, Abreu, Rollins, Buehrle, and Francisco Rodriguez), their election is far from a sure thing and far from imminent.
Between a player’s retirement from playing and their death, appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot and being elected to the Hall of Fame are the primary events that can add additional value to a player’s cards, especially his rookie cards.
While many players are far from surprise Hall of Famers, such as Beltre, they can still see a small bump when elected, and at least some of that bump tends to persist long-term. There are a lot of collectors who focus their career on the Hall of Fame, and look to add cards of inductees.
Think of the Hall of Fame as something that adds an extra shade of blue to the closest things card collecting offers to a “blue chip” investment.
While none of the players elected this year qualify as such, it’s worth noting that if a player is elected to the Hall of Fame unexpectedly, it can create immediate demand for a player’s rookie cards, and drive prices up quickly. A recent example of this was the election of Lee Smith and Harold Baines.
Looking ahead, beyond the players already discussed who will be returning to the ballot again in 2025 there are several interesting new candidates set to debut.
The player most likely to be elected, and potentially become the first position player to be elected unanimously, is Ichiro Suzuki. Beyond that, I expect C.C. Sabathia to get some serious consideration and appear on the ballot for several years.
I’m really interested to see how second basemen Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler fare. I think they’re both borderline candidates but have interesting cases that are worth further examination. Other first-year appearances of note include Felix Hernandez, Hanley Ramirez, and Troy Tulowitzki.
Look for in-depth coverage of the rookie cards of Ichiro, Sabathia, and other Hall of Fame candidates soon here on Cardlines. It’s never too early to start thinking about next year’s election and writing and reading about the rookie cards of these great players will give us all something to do while we stare out the window and wait for spring.
We hope you enjoyed this stroll through the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Voting results. Check out the links throughout the article and below for more in-depth info on the players mentioned and their rookie cards.
What do you think of the results? Happy with the players elected? Think someone got robbed? What cards are you chasing of the players on this and future ballots? Tell us about it at card_lines on Twitter.
The Best Rookie & Prospect Cards Of Hall Of Fame Candidate Adrian Beltre
The Best Rookie & Prospect Cards Of Hall Of Fame Candidate Joe Mauer
The Best Rookie Cards And Early Career Cards Of Todd Helton
The Best Rookie Cards and Early Career Cards Of Flamethrowing Reliever Billy Wagner
Baseball Hall Of Fame: What Does The Future Hold For The PED Crowd And Their Cards?
The Best Rookie Cards And Early Career Cards Of Hall Of Fame Candidate Andruw Jones
The Best Rookie Cards Of Hall Of Fame Candidate Carlos Beltran
The Best Rookie And Early Career Cards Of Hall Of Fame Candidate Chase Utley
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