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Matt Stairs' appearance on Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was brief

Matt Stairs' appearance on Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was brief

Matt Stairs' time on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was brief.

In results announced Wednesday evening, the former Fredericton resident failed to receive a single vote in his first year of eligibility. He will no longer be included on the ballot to enter the baseball shrine in Cooperstown, N.Y.

In order to remain eligible in the following year, players need to be named on five per cent of the ballots submitted by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. With 442 ballots cast this year, a player needed to receive 23 votes to remain on the 2018 ballot.

The writers were allowed to pick up to 10 names from the list of 34 on the ballot.

Stairs enjoyed a 19-year career and holds two major league records — the most career pinch-hit home runs with 23, and the most teams played for with 13.

Stairs was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.

To be chosen to the hall of fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., a player needed to be named on 75 per cent of the ballots cast, which numbered 322 this year.

Former Montreal Expo Tim Raines, along with Jeff Bagwell and Iván Rodríquez, achieved that threshold in the results announced Wednesday and will be inducted into the hall on July 30.

Larry Walker of British Columbia received 99 votes, meaning he was named on about 22 per cent of the ballots cast.