Former Toronto Blue Jays catcher and Canadian Russell Martin won't get more than one year on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.
After Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were voted into Cooperstown by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday, Martin was among three former Blue Jays that didn't garner the five per cent of the vote required to have their candidacy carried onto 2026.
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and outfielder Curtis Granderson both fell short, with Tulowitzki receiving one per cent and Granderson 0.8 per cent.
Martin received 2.3 per cent after a 14-year career in which he was named an All-Star four times, and won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards.
The East York, Ont. native faced an uphill batter as a catcher — a notoriously tough position to rack up the required numbers to earn induction. Counting by bWAR, Martin ranks 27th all-time among MLB backstops, which is more than six catchers who have a plaque in Cooperstown.
Last summer, Martin was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont. The now 41-year-old spent his MLB career with the Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates, racking up 38.8 WAR, 191 home runs and a .746 OPS.
His Hall of Fame candidacy became a hot topic during this year's voting period, as Martin and fellow catcher Brian McCann — who also fell off the ballot — spent their career as excellent framers, something that is potentially overlooked in voting for baseball's greatest honour.
Tulowitzki, meanwhile, totalled 44.5 WAR over 13 seasons, earning five trips to the All-Star Game, two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. He ranks 34th all-time among shortstops in WAR.
Granderson spent half of the 2018 season with the Blue Jays. He finished his 16-year career with 47.2 WAR, 344 home runs and an .803 OPS.
Ian Kinsler, Adam Jones, Carlos Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney and Ben Zobrist were the other players who did not surpass the five per cent threshold and will hope for induction through the Era Committees in the future.
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