Mark Buehrle's Hall of Fame support grows

Former White Sox ace Mark Buehrle is still a long shot to make the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but he had his highest vote total yet this year.

This is Buehrle's sixth year on the ballot, and he garned 85 votes, or 20% of the ballots cast. A candidate must reach 75% in order to earn election to the Hall. A player must receive at least 5% of the vote in order to remain on the ballot.

In case you were wondering, Buehrle got only 11.4% of the vote last year. As recently as 2022, he nearly fell off the ballot when he received 5.8%. So, yes, support is growing, but a player can only remain on the ballot for 10 years, and Buehrle only has four shots left to gain another 55% of support.

It's not likely, but as a Sox fan, I'll pull for him as long as possible.  

Jones, Beltran get Hall call

Outfielders Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltran were elected to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday. 

Jones is known as a stalwart center fielder for the Atlanta Braves. He won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves with Atlanta from 1998 through 2007.  

But he does have a White Sox tie. I was in the stands the day he hit his 400th career home run. Jones played one season on the South Side of Chicago, and he hit that milestone homer off Kansas City right-hander Anthony Lerew on July 11, 2010, at then-U.S. Cellular Field.

Jones appeared on 78.4% of the ballots in his ninth year eligible for election. Among outfielders in the Hall of Fame, he has the lowest lifetime batting average (.254), but the years of brilliant defense carried his candidacy. Jones totaled 24.4 defensive WAR in his career, which is the best of any outfielder in baseball history. 

I'm sure the 434 career homers didn't hurt.

As for Beltran, he received 84.2% of the vote in his fourth year on the ballot. 

A nine-time All-Star, Beltran was a switch-hitting center fielder with both power and speed. He is one of only five players with at least 500 doubles (565), 400 homers (435) and 300 steals (312). The others are Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.

With 1,582 runs and 1,587 RBIs, he is one of only 38 players in history with at least 1,500 in each of those categories.

Beltran won a World Series as a member of the 2017 Houston Astros, but his name became linked with the "trash can" sign-stealing scandal involving that team. It cost him an opportunity to manage the New York Mets in 2020, but it did not cost him election to the Hall of Fame.

Jones and Beltran will join Jeff Kent, who was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, as members of the 2026 Hall of Fame class. The induction ceremony is July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y.