Former Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen elected to Hall of Fame

Jan 24 2023, 11:47 pm

The Toronto Blue Jays are adding another member to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As announced on Tuesday, former Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen has been named to baseball’s highest honour.

Rolen had a .288 batting average with 215 hits, 19 home runs, 93 RBIs, and 110 runs scored in 203 games for the Jays in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

In total, Rolen played 17 seasons in the MLB with the Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds.

“Rolen right into the @baseballhall,” the Jays’ official account tweeted in response to the news. “Congrats, Scott!”

While he wasn’t a member of Toronto for very long, the veteran third baseman quickly became a fan favourite for his strong defensive plays.

Rolen was originally acquired by Toronto from St. Louis in exchange for Troy Glaus, before being sent to Cincinnati for a package that included longtime Toronto slugger Edwin Encarnacion.

He spent four seasons with the Reds, before officially retiring from baseball after the 2012 season.

Across his storied career, he had a .281 batting average, 2,077 hits, 316 homers, 1,287 RBIs, and 1,211 runs scored. He won eight Gold Glove awards, the Rookie of the Year award in 1996, as well as the 2006 World Series as a member of the Cardinals.

He was named to eight MLB All-Star games and received MVP votes in four of his seasons. His best season came in 2004 with St. Louis, where he finished fourth in NL MVP voting after batting .314 with 34 home runs and 124 runs batted in.

Rolen is the second former Blue Jay named to the Hall of Fame this offseason after Fred McGriff was tabbed with the honour in December.

Rolen joins McGriff, Roy Halladay,Ā Jack Morris, Frank Thomas, Bobby Cox, Roberto Alomar, Pat Gillick, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield, and Phil Niekro as former Blue Jays players and staff members to make the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Adam LaskarisAdam Laskaris

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