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Three players earned additions into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. Catcher Mason Wilkinson was the headliner with 82.1% and a first-ballot nod. 2B Austin Shaw also was a first ballot pick, although his 71.8% was only narrowly above the 66% requirement. Closer Josiah Denson was the other addition at 67.0% on his second ballot. Fellow reliever Alex Cantos barely missed out with 65.6% in his fifth try. Also above 60% was 2B Rodrigo Badillo at 61.2% for his fifth go. Three others were above 50% with SP Ollie Husband at 53.1% for his fifth try, RF Mike Castaneda at 51.3% on his second, and SP Aiya Kodama at 50.5% in his second. No players were dropped after ten ballots.

Editor’s note: Kodama shows as “Elected” as he earned a spot in EAB’s 2003 class. OOTP removes multi-league guys from other ballots once they have been inducted or dropped, as they are put in the game’s global HOF list. He’s on a short list of guys who may have been good enough to get in two HOFs if given the chance, but we’ll discuss that in his EAB induction post.



Mason Wilkinson – Catcher – Oklahoma City Outlaws – 82.1% First Ballot

Mason Wilkinson was a 6’2’, 190 pound right-handed catcher from The Woodlands, Texas; a township of around 114,000 people within metropolitan Houston. Wilkinson was a fantastic contact hitter with a tremendous eye for drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. He would lead in on-base percentage six times in his career and batting average twice. Wilkinson had good gap power and averaged around 30 doubles per 162 game average. His home run power was okay with 18 over his 162 game average. Wilkinson was abysmally slow and sluggish on the basepaths, which lessened his ability to score despite his great on-base percentage.

Wilkinson was a career catcher and renowned for tremendous durability at an incredibly demanding position, starting 120+ games every year for 19 years. Defensively, Wilkinson graded out as solidly above average. He became a popular player with fans, but Wilkinson would clash with teammates as times. He was considered to be a selfish loner that didn’t always give his all. Still, Wilkinson’s many talents put him in the conversation for MLB’s all-time top catcher.

Catchers with his skillset weren’t easy to find, as teams often had to sacrifice either batting or defense when filling the spot. Wilkinson showed he could do both in college with Memphis, winning a Silver Slugger his junior year. In the 1975 MLB Draft, San Antonio drafted Wilkinson with the #1 overall pick. However, he was unimpressed with their financial offering, refusing to sign with the Oilers. Wilkinson returned to college and won a second Silver Slugger as a senior. In four seasons with the Tigers, he had 184 games and 168 starts, 220 hits, 114 runs, 37 doubles, 44 home runs, 140 RBI, 114 walks, a .344/.436/.597 slash, 194 wRC, and 10.9 WAR.

Wilkinson was still a very hot commodity for the 1976 MLB Draft and was again picked #1 overall, this time by Oklahoma City. The Outlaws gave him a four-year, $2,160,000 major league contract right out of the gate. Wilkinson lived up to the billing with an outstanding rookie season, posting an American Association and career-best .364 batting average. He also led in OBP (.434) and posted 8.0 WAR. Wilkinson won Silver Slugger honors easily, but just missed out on Rookie of the Year to Atlanta’s Rodrigo Badillo; himself also a future Hall of Famer.

The next season, Wilkinson had a career-best 8.4 WAR and led again in OBP with a career best .438. He would win ten Silver Sluggers total with six coming for the Outlaws (1977, 78, 90, 82, 83, 87,). Wilkinson would trade the honor in the American Association with HOF Class of 2001 Mike Bastiani. He also took third in 1983’s MVP voting, winning his second batting title that year at .342. Wilkinson led in OBP for a third time in 1984 at .413 and had nine seasons worth 5+ WAR for OKC.

Oklahoma City was able to reverse their fortunes, having won an atrocious 50 games the year Wilkinson was drafted. They made four playoff appearances from 1979-83 with one division title, but never got deeper than the second round. Wilkinson’s playoff numbers were pedestrian with the Outlaws with a 101 wRC+ and .235/.329/.368 slash in 19 starts. Still, OKC committed to Wilkinson long-term after the 1980 season with an eight-year, $10,640,000 contract extension.

For the rest of the 1980s after their brief run of playoff berths, Oklahoma City fell into the middle tier. Wilkinson still played at a very steady pace as a good starter, although he was less impressive as he entered his 30s. He posted four seasons below a .300 batting average to end his Outlaws run. In total for OKC, Wilkinson had 1755 hits, 836 runs, 317 doubles, 186 home runs, 730 RBI, a .306/.389/.463 slash, 137 wRC+, and 68.8 WAR. The franchise would retire his #27 uniform at the end of his career.

Wilkinson decided to leave for free agency after the 1988 season, testing the waters entering his age 34 season. His durability and reliability meant he still had plenty of options. Wilkinson would sign a five-year, $8,700,000 contract with Hartford. He’d see a career resurgence for the Huskies, leading the National Association thrice in OBP. Wilkinson had four seasons worth 6.5+ WAR and won three more Silver Sluggers (1990, 91, 92).

Wilkinson stepped up big in the playoffs for Hartford, who won National Association pennants in 1989 and 1992. Although the Huskies lost the 1989 World Series to Denver, Wilkinson earned series MVP honors. In 1992, Hartford took the title against Calgary. In the playoffs for the Huskies, Wilkinson had 43 starts with 49 hits, 16 runs, 9 doubles, 6 home runs, 26 RBI, a .297/.370/.461 slash, 149 wRC+, and 1.7 WAR.

In his later years, Wilkinson also played for the United States in the World Baseball Championship. He played for the American team from 1989-95, starting in the first four editions of that run. In 63 games and 53 starts, Wilkinson had 56 hits, 32 runs, 12 doubles, 8 home runs, 28 RBI, a .296/.398/.508 slash, 162 wRC+, and 2.5 WAR. He was part of the 1992 world champion team.

For his Hartford run, Wilkinson saw 798 hits, 368 runs, 138 doubles, 64 home runs, 340 RBI, a .313/.393/.448 slash, 156 wRC+, and 33.6 WAR. Although the tenure was brief, he’d remain a popular figure with Huskies fans. His contract ran out after the 1993 campaign and he was a free agent again at age 39. Wilkinson was amazingly coming off some of his best work in his late 30s and physically was in great condition. Still, many MLB teams didn’t want to sign someone of his age, especially at catcher and for the money Wilkinson commanded.

He ended up moving to England as EBF’s Birmingham Bees signed Wilkinson to a two-ear, $5,520,000 deal. He had a great 6.7 WAR campaign and won the tenth Silver Slugger of his career. Wilkinson also started during the playoff run as Birmingham won the European Championship against Barcelona. They fell in the conference final the next year, but Wilkinson was still great. In his two seasons in England, he had 12.4 WAR, a .327/.402/.471 slash, 145 wRC+, 307 hits, 135 runs, and 26 home runs.

Wilkinson came back to MLB for 1996 as Austin gave him a two-year, $6,480,000 deal. He was only used as a part-time starter though and posted very average numbers. Wilkinson didn’t meet the vesting criteria and was a free agent again for 1997. Kansas City signed him for one year and $2,520,000, but he only had 51 games and 32 starts for the Cougars. Wilkinson retired that winter at age 42.

For his entire pro career, Wilkinson had 2944 hits, 1365 runs, 515 doubles, 279 home runs, 1254 RBI, 1264 walks, a .308/.389/.455 slash, 141 wRC+, and 116.2 WAR. His WAR total is the most by any catcher in any pro league and would only finally be passed by future Beisbol Sudamerica legend Cicero Lugo.

For his MLB career, Wilkinson had 2637 hits, 1230 runs, 474 doubles, 253 home runs, 1098 RBI, 1144 walks, a .305/.388/.453 slash, 140 wRC+, and 103.8 WAR. Wilkinson leads all MLB catchers in WAR and OBP as of 2037, although Mike Bastiani has him just beat in hits and runs. Wilkinson deserves a look when discussing MLB’s all-time best catcher though as an ironman with a multi-faceted game. He led the 2003 Hall of Fame class with a first ballot nod, although the anti-catcher bias of voters meant that even he only got 82.1%.