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Cooperstown will add a couple of more names on Wednesday afternoon, as the 2018 MLB Hall of Fame class will be announced.
MLB Network has coverage from 3 to 8 p.m. ET, while the results are likely to be announced sometime around 6 p.m. ET. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch MLB Network online, on your phone or on another streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services. They cost a monthly fee but all come with a free trial, so you can watch the Hall of Fame announcement show for free:
DirecTV Now: DirecTV Now has four different channel packages, and MLB Network is included in the “Just Right”, “Go Big” and “Gotta Have It” bundles. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial no matter what package you choose, and then you can watch on your computer via your browser, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app
PlayStation Vue: PlayStation Vue also has four different channel packages, and MLB Network is included in the “Core”, “Elite” and “Ultra” bundles. You can sign up for a free 5-day trial, and then you can watch on your computer via your browser, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the PlayStation Vue app
Preview
While nothing is official, we do have a general idea of who is likely to be inducted on Wednesday, thanks to Ryan Thibodaux’s tracking of 238 public ballots. Thus far, Chipper Jones and Jim Thome both look like locks to be first-ballot inductees, as they have collected 98.3 and 93.4 percent of the vote thus far (75 percent is needed to get into the Hall).
Both were pretty easy decisions. Chipper, the 1999 NL MVP and eight-time All Star, finished his 19-year career with a silly slash line of .303/.401/.529 to go with 468 home runs, 549 doubles, 1,512 walks, 4,755 total bases and 1,619 RBI, all of which rank in the Top 35 all-time.
Thome, meanwhile, never won an MVP but was perennially one of the league’s most feared power hitters, hitting at least 30 bombs 12 times during a 13-season span between 1996 and 2008. He finished his 22-year career with 612 dingers, which places him eighth all-time.
Additionally, Vladimir Guerrero is a near certainty to join Chipper and Thome in the 2018 class, while Trevor Hoffman should also get in. Both were close last year–Vlad missed by 15, Hoffman by 5–but Guerrero has a much higher net gain among returning voters (plus-43 vs plus-11 for Hoffman) on public ballots. Ultimately, neither should be sweating too much.
The last potential addition to Cooperstown is Edgar Martinez, who is in his ninth year on the ballot. He sits at 77.3 percent on public ballots, which is encouraging after he finished at just 58.6 percent last year, but the sweet-swinging DH has historically dropped significantly on the anonymous ballots. Even if he doesn’t sneak in this year, though, it looks good for him next year as he continues to trend upwards.
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