The first-ballot election makes Pudge the first Detroit Tigers player to enter the Hall since Al Kaline was voted in in 1980.
Rodriguez certainly deserved this spot and his election in the Hall is worth celebrating. But, his election also reminds fans that not one 1984 World Series champion player was enshrined in Cooperstown.
Alan Trammell‘s final appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot was in 2016. After 15 years of voting, the BBWAA just didn’t find him appealing enough. The same happened to Lou Whitaker and Jack Morris.