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From team legends to one-year rentals, the Red Sox are well represented on this year’s ballot.
Manny Ramirez (right) is in his eighth season in the Hall of Fame. Barry Chin/Globe Staff
The 2024 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot was released on Monday and Red Sox fans will certainly recognize many of the names on that list.
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At the top of this list of talented Red Sox players is outfielder Manny Ramírez, the only returning candidate on the ballot to play in Boston. Ramírez is one of the most respected figures in Red Sox history, having helped them win the World Series in 2004 and 2007.
Ramírez played in Boston from 2001-2008, hitting .312/.411/.585 with 274 home runs and 868 RBIs while wearing a Red Sox jersey. During those eight years, he won six consecutive Silver Slugger Awards (2001-2006), made the All-Star Game in every full season he spent in Boston and finished third (2004) in the MVP voting.
This is Ramírez’s eighth year on the ballot, mainly due to his reported use of performance-enhancing drugs during his playing career.
In addition to Ramírez, five former Red Sox players appear on the Hall of Fame ballot. These five players are making their voting debuts this year, allowing writers to vote for them for the very first time.
Adrián Beltré signed a one-year contract with the Red Sox in 2010, starting what was perhaps the best season of his career to that point. He made his first All-Star appearance, won a Silver Slugger Award and finished ninth in the MVP voting after a season in which he hit .321/.365/.553 with 28 home runs, 102 RBIs and an MLB-leading 49 doubles.
Like Beltré, first baseman Adrián González was playing perhaps the best baseball of his life in a Red Sox uniform at the time. González was traded to the Red Sox after the end of the 2010 season, and he finished the 2011 season with a batting average of .338/.410/.548 with 27 home runs, 117 RBIs and an MLB-leading 213 hits. It was the most decorated season of González’s career, as he made his fourth All-Star team, won both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards and finished seventh in the MVP voting before the season ended.
Despite his performance, González played only half a season in Boston, hitting .300/.343/.469 with 15 home runs and 86 RBIs before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in August 2012.
Infielder Brandon Phillips ended his long MLB career with the Red Sox in 2018, the year they won the World Series. Phillips played in only nine games with the Red Sox and is remembered more fondly for his time in Cincinnati, but he is known throughout Boston as the first person in franchise history to wear No. 0 and for his go-ahead home run in the ninth. inning against the Atlanta Braves on September 5 of that year.
Catcher and first baseman Víctor Martínez was acquired from the Cleveland Indians at the 2009 MLB Trade Deadline, and he finished that year hitting .336/.405/.507 with eight home runs and 41 RBIs in a Red Sox uniform. Martínez made the All-Star team the following year, hitting .302/.351/.493 before signing with the Detroit Tigers that winter.
Pitcher Bartolo Colón played with the Red Sox in 2008 and pitched to a 3.92 ERA and a 1.385 WHIP in seven starts for the Red Sox suspended him for leaving the team to go to the Dominican Republic without returning. Colón is best known for his achievements with other teams he played for in his long career, including winning the Cy Young Award while pitching for the Anaheim Angels in 2005.
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Here are the former Red Sox players on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot