How MLB Expansion Has Affected Hall of Fame Voting

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Hall of Famer Jim Rice By way of comparison, lets look at the careers of newly elected Hall of Famer Jim Rice and current Free Agent who is being touted as a first ballot Hall of Famer himself, Manny Ramirez. As luck would have it, they have both played 16 seasons, making the timing of this analysis almost perfect if you ask me. By the Numbers: 16, 26 to 30 and 24 to 48 16: This is the number of completed seasons by both Rice and Ramirez per Baseball-reference.com, hence the comparison. 26 to 30: 26 is the number of major league teams in existence for most of Rice’s career. Two teams were added in 1977 (the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners). 30 is the number of major league teams in existence for most ofRamirez’s career. Two teams were added in 1993 (the Colorado Rockies and the Florida Marlins) and another two were added in 1998 (the Tampa Bay Devil Rays [now just the Rays] and the Arizona Diamondbacks). 24 ...