Torii Hunter Back On The Baseball Hall Of Fame Ballot In 2023

COOPERSTOWN, NY (KDLM) – The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown released its 2023 ballot yesterday, and three former Twins are up for election this year.

Most notable is outfielder Torii Hunter, who will be on the ballot for the third time after appearing on 5.3% of the ballots last year, down from nearly 10% in 2020. Hunter was drafted by the Twins in the first round of the 1993 draft and spent 12 of his 19 big league seasons with the Twins, won nine consecutive Gold Gloves from 2001-2009, was an All-Star five times, won two Silver Slugger awards, and finished in the top 25 of MVP voting four times finishing as high as sixth in 2002. Hunter is a career .277/.331/.461 hitter with 353 home runs, 1,392 RBI, and 1,296 runs scored.

Appearing on the ballot for the first time is former Twins shortstop JJ Hardy, who played for the Twins in 2010 after being acquired in a trade with Milwaukee. After one season, he was traded to Baltimore where he won three gold gloves, a silver slugger award, and was an All-Star in 2013.

Former Twins reliever RA Dickey appeared in 35 games for the team in 2009. Dickey would win 20 games and lead the NL in strikeouts and won the NL Cy Young Award with the Mets in 2012. 

Other notable names on this year’s ballot include Carlos Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez, and John Lackey. A player needs 75% of the votes from the baseball writers to get into the hall of fame, and 5% of the vote to remain on the ballot for next year.

Last year, the Twins saw three former players enter Cooperstown together in Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, and David Ortiz.