Tommy John never received more than 31.7% of the votes needed to get into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but he believes it’s just one vote that kept him out: His vote for Donald Trump in the presidential election.
That of course is a ridiculous claim to make considering Trump ran in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. John was on the Hall of Fame ballot from 1995 to 2009. But that’s the claim John attempted to make Wednesday afternoon on The Michael Kay Show.
The absurd claim was made after Kay made a very fair pitch for John to get into Cooperstown during what was an awkward interview at times.
“I’ve always said, you’re the first one to have this groundbreaking surgery, you also won 288 games,” Kay noted. “And maybe this is not a question for you, but for the people that vote on such things, why are you not in the Hall of Fame?”
Most of Kay’s audience probably expected John to mention only making four All-Star teams or say something along the lines of voters believing he was a compiler. John, however, opted to go a totally different route.
Tommy John tells The Michael Kay Show he’s not in the Hall of Fame because he voted for Trump. Tommy John was on the ballot from 1995-2009. pic.twitter.com/pxp7AruPGS
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 25, 2024
“Maybe because I voted for Donald Trump,” John answered rather definitively, prompting Kay to question if he really thinks that’s the answer.
“Probably,” John said with a chuckle. “I don’t know. I have no idea. If I knew and I could do something, I would do it. But I can’t.”
John would do something, but would he vote for Kamala Harris? That’s the question we now need him to answer. Baseball writers have been accused of keeping a lot of players out of the Hall of Fame for various reasons. But believing they kept John out because they knew he was going to vote for Trump seven years after he was on the ballot is a new level of conspiracy theory in sports.
In the 15 years he was on the ballot, John never received more than 31.7% of the Hall-of-Fame vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. To get into the Hall of Fame, a player must get 75% of the votes.
John can make a good case for himself as far as why he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. His attempt at playing the victim because he voted for Trump seven years after he was no longer on the ballot, however, needs some work.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com