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Major League Baseball had a three-player Hall of Fame class for 2017. SP Udugama Bandara was the headliner with a first-ballot 94.4% mark. Fellow pitcher Daniel Grondin also got in on the first ballot with an 83.7% debut. 2B Elias Wilson on his tenth and final opportunity made it in at a nice 69.0%, just crossing the 66% requirement.

SP Keifer Bobbins and SS Robert Hightower both earned 61.4% on their fourth ballots. Also crossing 50% was C Brayan Varela at 56.7% for his second try, C Elliott McKay at 54.9% for his tenth and final ballot, and C Sebastian Van Velzen debuted at 53.6%.



For Elliott McKay, he debuted at 51.0% and never fell below 50%. He got as high as 62.0% in 2015, but couldn’t cross the line. The anti-catcher bias with the lower offensive stats that come with the position hurt him. McKay had a 19-year career mostly with Toronto, winning five Silver Sluggers and one MVP.

McKay had 2380 hits, 1145 runs, 355 doubles, 340 home runs, 1113 RBI, 979 walks, a .277/.350/.441 slash, 140 wRC+, and 95.7 WAR. As of 2037, he has the third-most WAR at catcher, only behind Mason Wilkinson (103.8) and Luca Adams (96.8). McKay likely is one of the most egregious snubs for MLB’s HOF, but such is the life as a catcher.

Also dropped was 3B Elmeri Paavolainen, who had an 18-year career with Edmonton, Denver, and Austin. The Finnish righty debuted with a peak at 28.1% and fell to 10.3% at the end. Paavolainen won a Silver Slugger with 2796 hits, 1439 runs, 340 doubles, 214 triples, 146 home runs, 891 RBI, 848 stolen bases, a .300/.367/.430 slash, 116 wRC+, and 62.2 WAR. He ranks 14^th in stolen bases as of 2037, but didn’t have the power or accolades to stand out.

SP Stan Sentido was also dropped after ten ballots, debuting and peaking at 26.8% and ending at 7.2%. Sentido pitched 20 years with seven teams and posted a 225-218 record, 3.39 ERA, 4222 innings, 3387 strikeouts, 909 walks, 105 ERA+, 84 FIP-, and 90.9 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 53^rd in pitching WAR. However, Sentido was dismissed as a compiler who lacked accolades and black ink. He was notable though for having a 2.00 ERA in his 94.2 playoff innings, playing a big role in Virginia Beach’s 1988 and 1990 World Series wins.



Udugama Bandara – Starting Pitcher – Columbus Chargers – 94.4% First Ballot

Udugama Bandara was a 6’4’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from Daluguma, Sri Lanka; a suburb of the capital Colombo with around 74,000 people. Bandara was known for having incredible movement on his pitches, rated as a 10/10 at his peak. He also had strong stuff and above average to good control. Bandara’s fastball hit the 97-99 mph mark, but his curveball and splitter were often his most dangerous pitches, leading to an extreme groundball tendency. He also had a rarely used changeup for a fourth pitch.

Bandara’s stamina was respectable and he was a good defensive pitcher. He also had excellent durability, making 32+ starts each year from 1993-2006. Bandara also brought a tremendous work ethic, allowing him to become one of MLB’s top pitchers of the 1990s and 2000s.

When Bandara was coming up, his native Sri Lanka had a very limited baseball scene. The country wouldn’t get a pro team in South Asia Baseball until 2008. Although Bandara dominated Sri Lanka’s limited amateur talent pool, it didn’t draw the attention of SAB teams. Despite being eligible multiple years, he wasn’t drafted into SAB. But he had managed to catch the attention of the Columbus Chargers, who gave him a sizeable $2,280,000 for one year to bring him to the United States.

The Chargers’ bet paid off with Bandara posting 4.4 in his debut, taking third in 1993’s Rookie of the Year voting. He was Columbus’ ace soon after, finishing above 6 WAR nine times in his run there. Bandara’s arm helped the Chargers become a contender with six playoff berths and four Lower Midwest Division titles from 1994-2001.

1994 saw an appearance in the National Association Championship Series for the first time since 1969, but Columbus lost to Cleveland. Unfortunately for the Chargers, they went 0-5 in their next five playoff series. In 1998, Columbus had the #1 seed at 100-62, but suffered an upset defeat to Toronto. You couldn’t blame Bandara though, as he had a 2.87 ERA over 47 playoff innings with 39 strikeouts and a 120 ERA+.

1996 saw Bandara toss a no-hitter on September 28 against Hartford, striking out 11 with one walk. After the 1997 season, Columbus gave him a six-year, $21,520,000 extension. In 1998, Bandara won Pitcher of the Year, leading in wins at 20-9. He finished with nine shutouts in 1999, earning third in POTY voting. As of 2037, Bandara is one of only 10 pitchers in MLB history to have nine or more shutouts in a season.

Bandara won his second Pitcher of the Year in 2000, which had his career-best ERA+ of 167. He led in wins in 2001, then took his lone ERA title in 2002 at 2.36 for a second in POTY voting. Bandara was a groundball and ‘pitch-to-contact’ type arm, so he didn’t get the big strikeout tallies. His black ink was surprisingly limited considering his overall run.

After 2002, Bandara declined the contract option, but re-signed shortly after on a five-year, $51,000,000 deal. He became less dominant as his velocity dwindled, but Bandara still was solid and reliable. By this point, Columbus had fallen towards the bottom of the standings mostly. After an ironman run to that point, Bandara had his first major injury in late June 2007 as a torn meniscus in his right knee knocked him out five months.

Columbus had bounced back to just above .500 at this point, but decided not to re-sign the soon-to-be 39-year old Bandara coming off injury. In total with the Chargers, he had a 239-171 record, 2.74 ERA, 3846.1 innings, 2743 strikeouts, 1088 walks, 345/516 quality starts, 126 ERA+, and 82.4 WAR. A few years later, Bandara’s #15 uniform would be retired in Columbus.

Plenty of teams still were interested and Bandara signed a three-year, $25,900,000 deal with Austin. He had a solid 2008 and helped the Amigos to a division title and the #2 seed, although they went one-and-done. They went .500 in 2009 as Bandara tore his meniscus again, missing the second half. In two years for Austin, he had a 27-14 record, 2.99 ERA, 364.1 innings, 211 strikeouts, 127 ERA+, and 7.5 WAR.

Bandara didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the third year, becoming a free agent again heading towards age 41. Kansas City gave him a three-year, $18,300,000 deal, but age started to catch up. Bandara missed a chunk of 2010 to rotator cuff inflammation and much of 2011 to an arthritic elbow. He was below average in his 314 innings for the Cougars with a 3.64 ERA, 93 ERA+, and 3.8 WAR. Bandara opted to retire after the 2011 campaign at age 42.

In total, Bandara had a 280-202 record, 2.82 ERA, 4524.2 innings, 3128 strikeouts, 1294 walks, 1.15 WHIP, 402/606 quality starts, 194 complete games, 69 shutouts, 123 ERA+, and 93.7 WAR. As of 2037, Bandara ranks 16^th in wins, 42^nd in WAR for pitchers, 23^rd in innings pitched, second in shutouts, and 85^th in strikeouts.

He retired as the leader in shutouts and would only later be passed by Vincent Lepp. This was especially interesting since Bandara didn’t crack the top 100 in complete games. Among all pitchers with 1000+ innings, his ERA ranks 61^st. Bandara didn’t have the raw dominance like some other greats, but he knew how to get outs and was as steady as they come. Thus, he received 94.4% to headline MLB’s three-player 2017 Hall of Fame class.