Indians' great Kenny Lofton deserves to be in the Hall of Fame

The baseball Hall of Fame ballots were mailed to voters this week, and that always triggers two questions I ask myself every year at this time: Will Omar Vizquel make it? Why didn't Kenny Lofton make it? Vizquel is still on the ballot, and trending in a positive direction towards eventual induction. Lofton, however, hasn't been on the ballot since 2013 — which was his only year on the ballot. Why? I wish I could give you a logical reason. Players are removed from the ballot if they are named on fewer than 5 percent of the ballots. In 2013, Lofton's first year of eligibility, 569 writers took part in the Hall of Fame voting. Only 18 voted for Lofton. That was 3.2 percent. Bye-bye Kenny. I have no explanation for this. Only 14 players in the history of the game have more stolen bases than Lofton's 622. Nine of them are in the Hall of Fame, and Lofton has a higher career WAR (68.4) than two of the others (Lou Brock and Max Carey). From 1980 to 1998, the American League leader in stolen bases in 17 of those 19 years was either Lofton or Rickey Henderson. Lofton led the American League in steals five years in a row, from 1992-96. Do you know how hard it is to lead the league in ANYTHING five years in a row? Here's a hint: very. You have to go back almost a quarter of a century to find the last time an American League player stole more bases than the 75 Lofton stole in 1996, the last year of that five-year run. Over those five years he averaged 63 steals per season. That's more than the AL stolen base leader has had in 17 of the last 19 years. All of which is not to say that just because Lofton had a lot of stolen bases he should be in the Hall of Fame. Vince Coleman had 130 more career steals than Lofton, and Coleman, rightfully, is not in the Hall of Fame. But Lofton was more than just an elite base stealer. During most of his career he was arguably the second-best leadoff hitter in the game, behind Henderson, and the best leadoff hitter after Henderson retired. Lofton was also a four-time Gold Glove winner, a six-time All-Star, and when he retired, he was just eight hits away from being a career .300 hitter over his 17-year career. He was still a productive player late in his career. At age 38, he hit .335 for the Phillies in 2005. At 39, he belted 12 triples, with 32 steals for the Dodgers in 2006, and at age 40, he hit a combined .296 with 23 steals for three teams in 2007. Some feel that the fact that Lofton bounced from team to team late in his career — he played for 11 different teams — may have hurt his resume among Hall of Fame voters. To the contrary, the reason he bounced from team to team was that those teams were all contenders, looking for a winning player, which Lofton was. During his career he played for 11 teams, and seven of them reached the playoffs. Lofton had a whopping 438 career postseason at-bats. His 68.4 career WAR ranks ninth among all centerfielders in the history of the game. Six of the eight players ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame. The two who are not, Mike Trout and Carlos Beltran, will be and should be, respectively. Will Lofton? Unfortunately, the writers have spoken on that subject. There is still, however a path to the Hall of Fame for Lofton. It would have to be through what is called "Today's Game" Committee, which was formerly known as the Veterans Committee. The Today's Game Committee, which covers the era 1988 to the present, considers managers, umpires, executives and players for induction into the Hall of Fame. The committee consists of 16 voters, those coming from members of the Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members. For induction, an individual must get 75 percent (12-of-16) of the vote. The Today's Game Committee meets twice every five years. It's next meeting will be December of 2022, to consider candidates for inclusion in the Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Lofton's case is particularly confounding, not because he wasn't voted into the Hall of Fame by the writers, but that he never came close. In that 2013 election, 551 of the 569 writers who voted not only didn't think Lofton belongs in the Hall of Fame, but that he didn't even belong on the ballot. There are those who feel some candidates fall through the cracks in various Hall of Fame votes. That's the main reason the Hall of Fame established these ancillary committees, as a way to correct oversights by the writers. The Kenny Lofton case needs correcting. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com.