6 degrees of Dontrelle Willis
If you dig deep enough, you'll find that each of the 12 newcomers to the Hall of Fame ballot has a Marlins connection
The Baseball Hall of Fame last week released its 2024 ballot, which includes 12 first-timers who join a group of 14 holdovers led by Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, Gary Sheffield and Billy Wagner.
Results of the annual voting, conducted by veteran members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, will be announced January 23 with the 2024 induction ceremony scheduled for July 21 in Cooperstown.
In looking at the 12 players added to the ballot—a group that includes at least one likely first-ballot electee (Adrian Beltre), a few others who have intriguing cases for election and a handful of players who will likely fail to get the required 5 percent of the vote to return to the ballot next year—I was struck by how each of the dozen players has at least some type of career footnote that connects him to the Marlins.
Let’s go through the list.
JOSE BAUTISTA: The owner of 344 lifetime homers and nearly 1,000 RBI over 15 seasons, Bautista had big league time with 5 different clubs over 6 seasons before he broke out with 54 home runs and 124 RBI for the Blue Jays in 2010, the start of a 6-year run during which he went to 6 All-Star Games, won 3 Silver Sluggers and had 4 top 10 MVP finishes, while averaging 38 long balls a year. And there is a Marlins tie to the moment for which he’s probably best-known in the big leagues. Bautista will always be remembered for his iconic bat flip after hitting a go-ahead (and ultimately series-winning) 3-run homer in the 7th inning of the decisive Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS against the Rangers. He hit the long ball off righthander Sam Dyson, who had been acquired by Texas from the Marlins in a deadline deal that July. Dyson appeared in 80 games over 3 seasons with Miami (2013-15) before going on to pitch for the Rangers, Giants and Twins.
BARTOLO COLON: Over 21 major league seasons with 11 clubs, the Dominican-born “Big Sexy” won 247 games, most by any Latin-born pitcher in ML history. He won the AL Cy Young Award as an Angel in 2005 and went to 3 All-Star Games, pitching in the majors to the age of 45. Colon made 15 career starts against Miami, but the one that will always stand out was his 2nd-to-last, on September 26, 2016 at loanDepot park. Pitching for the Mets, Colon started the first Marlins game after the death of Jose Fernandez. On arguably the most emotional night in Marlins history, he allowed Dee Gordon’s unforgettable first-inning lead-off home run and lasted only 2 1/3 innings, touched for 7 runs on 8 hits in a 7-3 Marlins victory.
ADRIAN BELTRE: After 21 seasons, 3,166 career hits, 477 home runs, 5 Gold Gloves and 4 All-Star selections, Beltre seems like a first-ballot Hall of Fame lock. While he batted .376 with 10 homers and a 1.073 OPS in 61 career games against the Marlins, Beltre’s ultimate Marlins memory is probably his exit from his final game against Miami. On July 26, 2017, the Marlins were on their way to a wild 22-10 win in the final game of a 3-game series in Arlington. With the Rangers down, 18-6, in the bottom of the 8th, Beltre, who was 3-for-3 with a walk, a homer and 2 RBI in the game, was on deck to face Drew Steckenrider, against whom he had never previously batted. Trying to get as good a look as possible at the Marlins righthander while awaiting his turn at bat, Beltre moved very close to behind home plate on the warning track while Nomar Mazara batted. He was asked to move back to the on-deck circle by home plate umpire Pat Hoberg. Dissatisfied with Beltre’s response, veteran crew chief Gerry Davis, the 2nd base umpire that night, walked in toward the plate and instructed Beltre to “get back in the on-deck circle.” When Beltre, looking for a work-around, dragged the on-deck circle close to where he had been standing, Davis, unamused, ejected him from the game. It marked only the 4th ejection of Beltre’s career, which spanned 2,933 games.
ADRIAN GONZALEZ: While he played for the Rangers, Padres, Dodgers, Red Sox and Mets over his illustrious 15-year career, the first baseman was actually drafted by the Marlins, first overall in 2000 out of Eastlake (CA) High School. Gonzalez spent all or part of 4 minor league seasons in the Marlins organization, reaching Triple-A Albuquerque in 2003 before he was sent to the Rangers in a deadline deal for closer Ugueth Urbina. While Urbina was a critical cog in the 2003 Marlins’ run to the World Series title, Gonzalez would go on to collect more than 2,000 hits and slug more than 300 home runs en route to 5 All-Star selections. Regarded as one of the best defensive first basemen of his generation, he earned 4 Gold Glove Awards.
MATT HOLLIDAY: Holliday enjoyed a brilliant 15-year career. Playing for the Rockies, Athletics, Cardinals and Yankees, he batted .299/.379/.510/.889 with more than 2,000 hits, nearly 500 doubles, more than 300 homers and more than 1,200 RBI. A 7-time All-Star and 4-time Silver Slugger, he led the 2007 Rockies to the NL Pennant, pacing the league in batting, RBI, hits, doubles and total bases while finishing 4th in home runs. He finished 2nd to Jimmy Rollins in the MVP vote. On July 4, 2008, Holliday had a monster game against the Marlins in a wild 18-17 Rockies Independence Day win at Coors Field. Holliday went 3-for-6 with a double, 2 homers and 5 RBI in the slugfest. The Rockies, who had been down 13-4 at one point, trailed 17-12 in the 7th when Holliday—who had homered in the 5th—connected for a grand slam off Logan Kensing to make it a one-run game. Down 17-16 in the 9th, Holliday singled off of Kevin Gregg and came home to score the winning run on a Chris Iannetta walk-off single.
VICTOR MARTINEZ: A 5-time All-Star and 2-time Silver Slugger, the Venezuelan-born Martinez played 16 seasons for Cleveland, Boston and Detroit. The career American Leaguer only played 12 games against the Marlins all-time, but hit .444 (16-for-36) with a .487 OBP, an .889 slugging percentage and a 1.376 OPS. The slugging percentage and OPS were both his highest against any opponent, while his average and OBP were 2nd-highest. He had 4 doubles, 4 homers, 9 RBI and 10 runs in his 12 games against the Marlins. On April 5, 2016, in the 2nd game of the season, he hit a 9th-inning pinch hit home run off Bryan Morris in a game the Tigers would eventually win 8-7 in 11 innings.
JOE MAUER: While the iconic Twins catcher only played 10 games against the Marlins over 15 ML seasons, Mauer posted a .375/.457/650/1.107 slashline across 40 at-bats. He homered twice off of Byung-Hyun Kim to lead Minnesota to a 7-4 victory June 24, 2007 at the old football stadium in Miami, one of only 4 multi-homer games he had in his career. Mauer was the 2009 AL MVP, a 6-time All-Star, a 5-time Silver Slugger and a 3-time Gold Glove Award winner. The 3-time batting AL champion and .306 lifetime hitter’s .375 career average against the Marlins was his 3rd-best against any opponent. He hit .529 in 14 games against the Dodgers and .378 in 14 games against the Cubs.
BRANDON PHILLIPS: Phillips was a 3-time All-Star, a Silver Slugger and a 4-time Gold Glover over 17 seasons with the (then) Indians, Reds, Braves, Angels and Red Sox. While he’s best known for his 11 seasons in Cincinnati, Phillips had a weekend he’ll never forget against the Marlins in 2017 during his partial season with the Braves, delivering walk-off hits in back-to-back games. On June 17, he hit a 10th-inning RBI single off AJ Ramos to give Atlanta an 8-7 win. The next afternoon, on Father’s Day, he lifted the Braves to a 5-4 victory with a game-ending single off Drew Steckenrider. The ground ball up the middle made its way through a 5-man infield with a bit of confusion around the second base bag. Phillips became the 4th Brave ever to deliver walk-off hits on consecutive days, the first since 1988.
JOSE REYES: After 9 seasons with the Mets, Reyes signed a 6-year, $106 million contract to play shortstop for the Marlins prior to the 2012 season, the first year in Marlins Park. The 4-time All-Star, 3-time stolen base champ and 2011 NL batting leader pushed Hanley Ramirez to third base and would spend only one year in Miami, batting .287 with 37 doubles, 12 triples, 11 home runs, 57 RBI and 40 stolen bases in 2012. At the end of the season, he was dealt to Toronto, part of a 12-player blockbuster between the Marlins and Blue Jays.
JAMES SHIELDS: Shields pitched for the Rays, Royals, Padres and White Sox of a 13-year career, but his name was linked to the Marlins multiple times. Prior to the 2012 season, their first year at Marlins Park, the Marlins discussed a deal that would have brought Shields to Miami from Tampa Bay after a 2011 season in which he won 16 games, recorded a 2.82 ERA and fired a league-leading 11 complete games, including an AL-best 4 shutouts, en route to a 3rd-place finish in AL Cy Young voting. 3 years later, in the winter before the 2015 season, the Marlins reportedly made a 3-year, $60 million offer to the righthander, who was a free agent after a brilliant season for the AL champion Royals. He ultimately signed with the Padres for 4 years and $80 million. After a season and a half in San Diego, he was traded to the White Sox for a 17-year-old shortstop who had yet to play a minor league game in the United States, a kid named Fernando Tatis Jr. Shields’ 14 career games (13 starts) against the Marlins were notable in this regard: he posted a 2.33 ERA in 11 of the games, including a pair of complete games and a shutout, while being tattooed to the tune of a 19.06 ERA in the other 3.
CHASE UTLEY: Utley is among a group of long-time NL East stars—along with, most notably, Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Ryan Howard, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Jimmy Rollins, David Wright and Ryan Zimmerman—who, because of their longevity, put up big career numbers against the Marlins. For his part, Utley played 188 games, more than an entire major league season’s worth of games just against Miami. Only 4 players have appeared in more games against the Marlins all-time, and the long-time Phillies second baseman ranks 2nd in RBI, 6th in hits and 7th in home runs and runs scored among all players against the Marlins since the franchise broke into the National League in 1993. While Utley was the better all-around player, between 2006 and 2010, he and the Marlins’ Dan Uggla were the 2 top power-hitting second basemen in the league with Uggla in 2010 ending Utley’s run of 4 consecutive Silver Slugger awards. A 6-time All-Star and 4-time Silver Slugger, Utley played 12 1/2 seasons with the Phillies before ending his career with 3 1/2 seasons as a Dodger.
Utley hit 3 career walk-off homers, including this June 25, 2014 shot against the Marlins.
DAVID WRIGHT: Wright appeared to be on a Cooperstown course before injuries short-circuited his career, limiting him to a total of only 77 games over his final 4 seasons and forcing him into retirement at age 35. A 7-time All-Star between 2006 and 2013, he won 2 Silver Sluggers and 2 Gold Gloves. Before injuries began to take their toll, he slashed .301/.384/.505/.888 and averaged 38 doubles, 24 homers, 97 RBI and 94 runs over his first 8 full ML seasons. During his 14-year career, Wright had more hits (231) and doubles (54) against the Marlins than against any other club, while his 121 RBI vs. Miami matched his total against the Phillies for most against any opponent. On September 28, 2018, he played his final big league game against the Marlins, fouling out to first baseman Peter O’Brien in his last ML at-bat. For the rest of that night and any other time O’Brien returned to Citi Field, he was booed relentlessly by Mets fans for not letting Wright’s foul pop up drop.
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Enjoyed the article, but was pulled back in time to Omar Minaya's horrendous trade while he was the Expos' GM for Bartoli Colon. For Big Sexy and Tim Drew, Montreal sent Lee Stevens,Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore to Cleveland. Ugh.