Colorado Rockies: Larry Walker gets boost, falls short of Hall induction; Todd Helton falls far short

At 4 PM MT on Tuesday, the President of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Jeff Idelson, announced the 2019 inductees to the Hall. Inducted were former Yankees closer and the all-time saves leader Mariano Rivera, former Seattle Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez, former Blue Jays and Phillies starting pitcher Roy Halladay, and former Yankees and Orioles starting pitcher Mike Mussina. The two Colorado Rockies on the ballot fell short of induction.

Larry Walker and Todd Helton fell short of induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the 2019 ballot, a ballot which inducted four new members into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Earning induction were former Yankees closer and the all-time saves leader Mariano Rivera to become the first player in Baseball Hall of Fame history to be elected unanimously, former Seattle Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez, former Blue Jays and Phillies starting pitcher, the late Roy Halladay, and former Yankees and Orioles starting pitcher Mike Mussina.

For Walker, while he fell just short of induction, he received a massive gain this year from last year as he got 54.6 percent this year, which is a 20.5 percent jump from the 34.1 percent he got in 2018. That 34.1 percent mark was also a big jump as he jumped 12.2 percent from 21.9 percent in 2017.

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He will look to gain that 20.5 percent again next year, which will be his tenth and final year on the ballot. If he gets a 20.5 percent jump again, he will get 75.1 percent of the vote, which will get him inducted.

According to the ballots announced publicly before the announcement via Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs on Twitter), Walker had one of the highest gains in the “tracker era,” which is since 2009.

Below are the biggest gains in the era, as of Monday night.

Out of the public ballots revealed on Tuesday, Walker gained two more ballots, his gain this year became the third largest gain in the tracker era.

For Todd Helton, he garnered 16.5 percent of the vote. However, this was only his first ballot so he be eligible on nine more ballots to earn induction to Cooperstown.

Considering that Helton has never been tied to steroids, he has a good chance of receiving gains in the next few years to warrant induction.