Brian Kenny makes his Hall of Fame case for Jimmy Rollins as results are announced tonight
Brian Kenny joined MLB Network this morning and praised Phillies legend Jimmy Rollins, outlining his fascinating case to be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.
Brian Kenny on Jimmy Rollins’ induction into Cooperstown
The case of Jimmy Rollins in the Baseball Hall of Fame is an interesting one. This is Rollins second year on the HOF Ballot and although he wasn’t inducted last year, he did pass the minimum percentage needed to stay in the running.
Obviously, The Liberty Line is a Philadelphia sports website but in my completely unbiased opinion, Jimmy Rollins deserves to be inducted into Cooperstown.
Click here for this year’s full Hall of Fame ballot >>
Jimmy Rollins’ Notable Accomplishments
All-time Phillies hits leader: Jimmy Rollins leads the Phillies franchise in all-time hits, with 2,306. He passed players like Mike Schmidt, Richie Ashburn, Ed Delahanty, and more to obtain this honor.
Shortstop History: There’s one shortstop in the history of major league baseball with 200 HRs and 400 SBs…that shortstop is Jimmy Rollins. Jimmy wasn’t the type of guy that would go out and hit 50 home runs every season, but he was the guy that would crack a homer when you needed it, and if he didn’t, he fly his way around the bases like it was his job.
MVP: Jimmy Rollins is the only shortstop in the National League to win MVP in the last 25 years. The last shortstop to do it was Barry Larkin in 1995, and before that, Maury Willis in 1962.
The stats that are often forgotten about in Major League Baseball are defensive stats. Jimmy Rollins was a four-time gold glove winner, had a career fielding percentage of .983, and played over 19,000 innings at shortstop throughout his 17-year MLB career.
Rollins is the only shortstop in a near-century to play 162 games in a season. He had a 38-game hit streak in 2005, which put the Phillies on a hot streak to finish the season. That hitting streak was the longest streak from a SS since 1894 (Bill Dahlen), and ranks 8th as the longest hit streak in MLB history.
Jimmy Rollins had 12 MLB seasons with over 140 games played. That has only been accomplished at the shortstop position by Derek Jeter, Cal Ripken Jr, Ozzie Smith, and Omar Vizquel.
Read more: Rob Thomson says opposing managers calls CBP “four hours of hell” >>
Brian Kenny also praised Chase Utley at the end of this video, who will find his name on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2024.
The 6x All-Star, 4x Silver Slugger, and World Series Champion had a fantastic career in Philadelphia. Utley and Rollins formed one of the best middle-infield duos the game has ever seen. The two turned hundreds of double plays over their career and, along with Ryan Howard, completed the “Big 3” of the 2008 championship team.
Utley played 159 games in 2008, slashing .292/.380/.535. He cracked 33 HRs and 104 RBIs throughout the ’08 season, tallying 177 hits, the second most hits of his career in one season. Chase Utley posted a career .282 average in 13 years with the Phillies, cracking over 200 HRs and 900 RBIs.
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