Omar Vizquel sees Hall of Fame voting percentage plummet in fifth year on ballot

Former Cleveland shortstop Omar Vizquel, embroiled in a lawsuit amid allegations of sexual assault of a former minor league batboy, saw his percentage share of the National Baseball Hall of Fame vote plummet in the results announced Tuesday.

Vizquel received just 23.9 percent of the vote from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The final results were announced on MLB Network. Players need at least 75 percent of the vote to be inducted in the Hall of Fame and have 10 years to remain on the ballot. Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was the only player to receive the needed 75 percent of the vote to be inducted.

Vizquel is being sued for allegedly sexually harassing a batboy, who has autism, while Vizquel was managing the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. The lawsuit accuses Vizquel of "sexually aggressive behavior" where he "deliberately exposed" himself and intimidated the batboy, amongst other allegations.

In 2020, Vizquel's wife accused him of physically abusing her on multiple occasions. Vizquel was arrested but not prosecuted, and he denied the abuse, calling it a "smear campaign."

Vizquel was already trending in the wrong direction in voting before this year's results. In 2020, he received 52.6 percent of the vote and appeared to have a chance to eventually make it over the top. He then received only 49.1 percent of the vote last year before having that more than halved this year.

Voters are instructed to include a player's character in their deliberations, as Hall of Famers "shall be chosen on the basis of playing ability, sportsmanship, character, their contribution to the teams on which they played and to baseball in general."

Vizquel's Hall of Fame case was built on his defensive prowess — he won 11 Gold Gloves and is statistically one of the best fielding shortstops of all time — and longevity. He played in 24 major league seasons.

But he never had the type of peak during his career that is often seen as a requirement for induction. He was only a two-time All-Star and never finished in the top-15 in MVP voting. His 45.6 career bWAR also falls well short of the 67 bWAR average of the shortstops already in the Hall of fame.

Jeff Kent (32.7 percent of the vote) and Manny Ramirez (28.9 percent of the vote) passed Vizquel in percentage share. Also of note, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling all fell short of the vote in their final year on the ballot, receiving 66, 65.2 and 58.6 percent, respectively. Players who aren't elected in their 10 seasons on the BBWAA ballot can still be inducted via the Veterans' Committee.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Omar Vizquel sees Hall of Fame voting percentage plummet