Zero Phillies elected to Hall of Fame

Cliff Lee fell off the Hall of Fame ballot. (John Hefti/Icon Sportswire)

For the first time in three years, a former Philadelphia Phillies star wasn’t elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

New York Yankees icon Derek Jeter missed out on being a unanimous selection by one vote, but he was elected in his first year on the ballot.

Larry Walker, in his final year on the ballot, was also elected.

Of the five former Phillies on the ballot, Curt Schilling performed the best, coming in at 70.0 percent. Schilling, who won the 1993 NLCS MVP while pitching for the Phillies, topped the 60.9 percent mark that he came in at last season. He has two more years remaining on the ballot. If he were to be elected, it’s unclear if he would go in as a Phillie, Arizona Diamondback or Boston Red Sox. He could also go into the Hall of Fame with a blank cap, like Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina did last year.

Scott Rolen, who won the 1997 National League Rookie of the Year while playing for the Phillies, had a tremendous showing in his third year on the ballot. Rolen, an eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, received 35.3 percent of the vote in 2020, a sizable increase from the 17.2 percent he received in 2019.

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Former Phillies closer Billy Wagner also saw an impressive increase in his percentage of the vote in 2020, jumping up to 31.7 percent after garnering 16.7 percent of the vote in 2019. Wagner recorded 59 saves between 2004 and 2005, his two seasons with the Phillies. He’s sixth in MLB history with 422 career saves.

Bobby Abreu will live to see another year on the ballot, as he secured 5.5 percent of the vote.

Cliff Lee was one of the most popular players to ever play for the Phillies, leading the team to the 2009 National League pennant and making All-Star Game appearances in 2011 and 2013. Additionally, he won the American League Cy Young Award in 2008 while pitching for the Cleveland Indians and helped pitch the Texas Rangers to an American League pennant in 2010. Unfortunately for Lee, while he was a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher at his peak, he only pitched 13 seasons and his overall body of work wasn’t enough. Lee failed to receive the five percent of votes necessary to stay on the ballot moving forward.

Jeter, Walker, Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on July 26.