Carlos Delgado debuts on BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot
A Puerto Rican legend who, for more than a decade, was one of baseball’s most consistently productive power hitters, Carlos Delgado made a name for himself north of the border not only with his bat but also with his consistency.
Due to Delgado’s unique set of skills, he finds himself on the brink of gaining membership in the sport’s most exclusive team at the Hall of Fame.
Delgado debuts on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot this fall, one of 34 players on the 2015 BBWAA ballot for the Class of 2015.
BBWAA members who have at least 10 years of tenure with the organization can vote in the election, and the results will be announced Jan. 6. Any candidate who receives at least 75 percent of all BBWAA votes cast will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2015. The Induction Ceremony will be held July 26 in Cooperstown.
Bio
Only 27 career home runs short of 500, Delgado became the fourth player in big league history to hit at least 30 home runs in 10 consecutive seasons (from 1997-2006), joining Barry Bonds, Jimmie Foxx and Sammy Sosa. In the end, injuries forced the slugger with the potent left-handed swing to walk away from the game.
“I got sent down twice, I switched positions three times in two years. I had to learn how to play first base. There were some years when I was hitting .240 at the All-Star break. There were the 0-for-30s,” Delgado recalled a few years ago when asked for his biggest challenges. “But this is what I love and this is what I signed up for. If it was easy, anybody could do it.”
Born June 25, 1972 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Carlos Juan (Hernandez) Delgado once envisioned himself playing professional volleyball. The second of four children, he eventually turned his energy toward baseball. The 16-year-old Delgado, the one-time right-handed hitter who was 9 years old when his father taught him to bat left-handed, was signed by scout Epy Guerrero of the Toronto Blue Jays as an amateur free agent for a reported $90,000 bonus in 1988.
From 1989 to 1994, Delgado was a catcher in the Blue Jays farm system. Named Most Valuable Player of the Florida State League in 1992 and the Southern League in 1993, both times topping the circuits in home runs and RBI, he made his big league debut in 1993, the year Toronto won the second of back-to-back World Series titles.
Delgado’s conversion from catching began in 1994, when Toronto made him the starting left fielder to begin the season. Sent back to the minors for more seasoning, he eventually established himself as a Blue Jays regular in 1996 when, as the team’s designated hitter, he clubbed 25 home runs and collected 92 RBI. He assumed his now familiar position of first base after Toronto traded John Olerud prior to the 1997 campaign.
An imposing figure at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, the power-hitting first baseman with the big left-handed bat and broad smile established himself as an American League force from 1996 to 2004 by averaging .286 with 36 home runs, 96 runs scored and 114 RBI. It was during this period that he was named to two All-Star teams (2000, 2003), collected three Silver Slugger Awards (1999, 2000, 2003), and, on Sept. 25, 2003 versus Tampa Bay, became the 15th player in major league history to hit four home runs in one game.
In 2003, Delgado finished second to Alex Rodriguez in AL MVP voting when he hit .302 with 42 home runs and a career-best 145 RBI.
“Not only was he one of the best hitters in club history, he was one of the finest first basemen of his generation,” said Toronto President Paul Beeston. “More importantly, Carlos was a tremendous ambassador for the Blue Jays organization and the city of Toronto.”
After games, Delgado was known to log information into a notebook that he shared only with teammates.
“He’s got an edge on a lot of players, because he keeps a book,” said former Toronto teammate Homer Bush. “At least 70 percent of the time, he knows what’s coming. Guys loved it. It was a daily team thing. He’d say: ‘Hey, guys, I got him. Do you want him?’”
After 12 seasons in Toronto, Delgado left via free agency after the 2004 season and signed a four-year, $52 million contract with the Florida Marlins. Though he hit well in 2005, averaging .301 with 33 home runs and 115 RBI, after one season with Florida he was dealt with cash to the New York Mets in return for three young players.
In 2006, his first season with the Mets, Delgado hit 38 homers and drove in 114 runs and played in the postseason for the first time, batting .351 (13-for-37) with four home runs and 11 RBI as his team came within a game of reaching the World Series.
“He was everything and more,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said of Delgado. “You know this guy is a great player, but he is also the most cerebral and thoughtful player I’ve ever been around. And he shares that knowledge to make his teammates better.”
After a 24-homer, 87-RBI season in 2007, Delgado bounced back the next year with 38 homers with 115 RBI.
“It doesn’t matter what the pitch is or where it is,” said Delgado’s former Mets teammate Ryan Church in 2008. “He just crushes it.”
Hip problems cost Delgado most of 2009, his final major league season, limiting the slugger to only 26 games. Though he signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox and played five games for their Triple-A team in 2010, injuries ultimately forced him to announce his retirement in April 2011.
Delgado finished his 17-season big league career with 2,038 hits, 483 doubles, 473 homers, 1,241 runs scored, 1,512 RBI, a .280 batting average and a .383 on-base percentage. He was presented the 2006 Roberto Clemente Award, given to a player that combines good play and strong work in the community.
The all-time home run and RBI leader by a Puerto Rican-born player, Delgado holds Blue Jays career records in slugging percentage (.556), plate appearances (6,018), runs scored (889), total bases (2,786), doubles (343), home runs (336), RBI (1,058), bases on balls (827), hit by pitch (122) and intentional bases on balls (128).
