Rolen has a career bWAR of 70.1, which is higher than Tony Gwynn, Eddie Murray, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlton Fisk, Edgar Martinez, Ryne Sandberg, Roberto Alomar, Craig Biggio, Andre Dawson, and other position players of recent decades.
Examining select Hall of Fame cases of Black players not yet enshrined
February is Black History Month, and with Baseball Hall of Fame talk still hot among many fans and scribes, now seems a good time to take a brief look at some Black players who have been considered and voted on but who are not enshrined at Cooperstown, at least not yet.
My IBWAA 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot
While I'm a Philadelphia Phillies fan and that team is the subject of the majority of my baseball writing, that my vote went to four players who performed with that team is merely coincidental.
MLB flashback: Dennis Eckersley
Dennis Eckersley won 197 games and saved 390 over 24 seasons. The righty pitched in 1,071 games and threw 3,285.2 innings with 2,401 strikeouts. At the time of his retirement, Eck had appeared in more games than any pitcher in MLB history.
MLB flashback: Paul Molitor
In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Molitor at #99 on its list of 100 Greatest Baseball Players. In June of that year, Milwaukee retired his uniform number 4, and five years later Molitor joined Yount as the only two players sporting the Brewers cap on their Hall of Fame plaques.
MATT VEASEY 