Rightfully so, legendary Phillies second baseman Chase Utley garnered a lot of attention upon the announcement of the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame voting results. Still, another former Phillies superstar whose absence was even keenly noticeable might be the one, as one former player and manager pointed out.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins received 14.8 percent of the vote in his third year on the ballot, which was more than enough to keep him on the ballot for a further year but far short of the 75 percent required for induction.
Former manager Larry Bowa informed the journalists who are voting on the fellow shortstop that they are making a mistake on X, formerly known as Twitter:
Having played shortstop for the bulk of his 16-year career, Bowa is well-versed in what it takes to play the position at a high level on a regular basis. From 2001 until 2004, the 78-year-old got the chance to oversee Rollins and witness directly his work ethic and on-field abilities.
Jimmy Rollins’ numbers present a compelling case for the Hall of Fame.
The switch-hitting middle infielder played in the major leagues for 17 years, with the Phillies for 15 of those years. His career average of.264,.324 on-base percentage, and.418 slugging percentage were his last numbers. A total of 1,421 runs, 2,455 hits, 231 home runs, 936 RBI, 470 stolen bases, 813 walks, and 1,264 strikeouts were tallied by him during his career.
He was a worker much of the time, racking up 10,240 plate appearances in 2,275 games during those 17 seasons.
He slashed in 50 playoff games.246/.308/.364 with 48 hits, three home runs, 15 RBI, and 27 runs.
Baseball Reference rates his career WAR at 47.6, whereas FanGraphs claims he concluded with a 49.6 WAR.
At the plate, too, he had good control. He struck out 12.3 percent of batters in his 17 seasons, compared to the league average of 18.1 percent.
Rollins’ speed was evident while he was on base. His 115 triples were only one example of how he could transform any hit into extra bases. He was always a threat to run when he held up at first or second. Rollins’ 81.7 stolen base percentage is 44th out of all MLB players.
Beyond offense, though, Rollins shined on defense. His 98.3 fielding percentage ranks fourth-best in the history of the position, and his 19,513 2/3 innings at shortstop rank seventh-most. To add to that, the flashy infielder’s 6,139 assists are 20th-most, 718 behind Bowa, who ranks ninth on the list.
While there is some thought that Utley’s Hall of Fame case is hurt because of longevity concerns, those same worries shouldn’t apply to Rollins.
Across his 15 years with Philadelphia, spanning 2000 through 2014, Rollins was consistently one of the best shortstops in the game. During that stretch, his 48.9 WAR was only behind Álex Rodríguez (86.6) and Derek Jeter (53.7), according to FanGraphs, and he played the second-most games at 2,090.
His 216 home runs were also third at the position, and his 453 swiped bags were only two behind the speedy José Reyes during that time frame.