Ex-Angels Pitcher Has Crazy Theory Why He Wasn't Voted into Baseball Hall of Fame

Jeremy Hanna | Sep 27, 2024

Sep 23, 2008; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers former pitcher Tommy John throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame is the final and highest honor a Major League Baseball player can receive.

Numerous members of the Los Angeles Angels have been inducted, including Dave Winfield, Hoyt Wilhelm, Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Rickey Henderson, and Vladimir Guerrero.

Unfortunately, not everyone makes it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. And one former Angel thinks he knows why he wasn't voted in.

During an appearance on The Michael Kay Show, Kay had on Tommy John, a legendary MLB pitcher who is most well-known for being the first pitcher to recover from the procedure now known as Tommy John Surgery.

“I’ve always said, you’re the first one to have this groundbreaking surgery, you also won 288 games,” Kay said. “And maybe this is not a question for you, but for the people that vote on such things, why are you not in the Hall of Fame?”

"Maybe because I voted for, uh, Donald Trump," John replied. This naturally prompted a follow up from Kay if he thought this was true.

Tommy John tells The Michael Kay Show he's not in the Hall of Fame because he voted for Trump. Tommy John was on the ballot from 1995-2009. pic.twitter.com/pxp7AruPGS

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 25, 2024

“Probably,” John said.  “I don’t know. I have no idea. If I knew and I could do something, I would do it. But I can’t.”

This is particularly wild because Trump wasn't a nominee for president until 2016. Meanwhile, John was last on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2009, his last of 15 chances. Of those opportunities, John received at most 31.7 percent of votes, much less than the required 75 percent.

Still, it's possible for John to join the Hall of Fame if the 16-member Veteran Committee votes for him in the near future. That being said, he has been a candidate on four Era Committee ballots and never received enough votes for his total to even be announced, per Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs.

Tommy John has also been a candidate on 4 Era Committee ballots (2011, ‘14, ‘18, ‘20), voted on mainly by HOF players and executives. Not once did he get enough votes for his actual total to be announced. It’s not politics that’s kept him out https://t.co/hkIRRKnYh8

— Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) September 25, 2024

Besides being the first pitcher to successfully recover from Tommy John Surgery, John has plenty of other traits that could make him a likely candidate. During his 26-year career, John went 288-231 with a 3.34 ERA. He also started 700 games and relieved an additional 60.

However, there are other factors that could potentially keep him out by fickle Hall of Fame voters. For example, the historical benchmark for pitching excellence is 300 games. John fell 12 games short.

John is also among the all-time leader in multiple negative categories, including hits allowed (10th), earned runs allowed (16th), and wild pitches (17th).

There's no doubt that Tommy John's name belongs in baseball history. However, the idea that his politics is keeping him out of the Hall of Fame is hard to believe.

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