[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 2010 European Baseball Federation ballot had a lot of guys on the borderline, but ultimately added three players. 1B Luigi Cuttone had a big bump on his sixth ballot, leading the group at 84.9%. Two others barely got in across the 66% requirement. 1B Peter Brikmann was the best debutant at 68.6% and RF Bernard Martin made it with 67.4% for his sixth try.



Very close but just short was LF Henrique Agnelo at 63.4% on his second ballot and SP Reggie Hobart with 61.9% for his seventh ballot. Also above 50% were pitchers Vincent Cassar at 59.2% on his seventh ballot, Nicholas Friis with 56.2% in his tenth and final try, and Viktor Fredsgaard at 54.1% on his fourth ballot.

For Friis, the 56.2% finish was a major surprise considering he dropped as low at 7.3% the prior season. He had a 14-year career with Amsterdam and won three EBF titles with the Anacondas, finishing with a 176-95 record, 3.34 ERA, 2551 innings, 2323 strikeouts, 434 walks, 115 ERA+, and 55.1 WAR. His resume very much reads as “Hall of Pretty Good.”

Also dropped after ten ballots was RF Louie Jones, who spent 11 years with Madrid and won two Silver Sluggers and two EBF titles. He had 1819 hits, 981 runs, 269 doubles, 407 home runs, 1225 RBI, a .302/.331/.562 slash, 141 wRC+, and 48.4. Jones played his final five years in AAB after falling off in EBF. He peaked at 32.6% in 2002 and finished at 26.0% as another Hall of Pretty Good guy.



Luigi Cuttone – First Base – Rome Red Wolves – 84.9% Sixth Ballot

Luigi Cuttone was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Ferrara, a city of 132,000 inhabitants in northern Italy. On the whole, Cuttone was a solid contact hitter with nice home run power, hitting 30+ homers ten times and 40+ four times. He was very good at avoiding strikeouts, but below average at drawing walks. Cuttone’s gap power was decent with around 25-30 doubles per year. He wasn’t going to leg out extra bases often with subpar speed and horrendously clumsy baserunning.

Cuttone was far better hitting against right-handed pitching with a career .966 OPS and 163 wRC+. Versus lefties, he was a merely average .739 OPS and 106 wRC+. Cuttone was a career first baseman and a reliably solid defender, winning a Gold Glove in 1997. He had excellent durability, but fell out of full-time starting roles at times due to struggles against left-handed pitching.

Cuttone emerged as one of the better hitting prospects from Italy in the 1984 EBF Draft. With the 13^th overall pick, he was selected by Rome, where he played his entire pro career. Cuttone saw limited use in his first three seasons, making only 43 starts over 242 games. The Red Wolves made him a full-time starter in 1988 and he held that role through the 1994 season.

Cuttone won Silver Sluggers in 1988, 1990, and 1991 with his lone Gold Glove in 1997. He was never an MVP finalist and rarely a league leader, but he did lead the Southern Conference in RBI in both 1990 and 1994. Cuttone also led in total bases in 1991 and had a career best 8.2 WAR, 177 wRC+, and 1.008 OPS that season. Cuttone wasn’t incredible, but he was steady with 11 seasons worth 4+ WAR.

Rome was delightfully average for Cuttone’s tenure, scoring 78.4 wins per season. The Red Wolves made the playoffs in both 1991 and 1994, but were one-and-done both times. Rome gave Cuttone an eight-year, $17,300,000 extension after the 1991 season and he remained a very popular player even as the franchise was mid.

Cuttone also had popularity among Italian fans generally for his efforts in the World Baseball Championship from 1987-98. He had 110 games and 103 starts with 118 hits, 52 runs, 18 doubles, 27 home runs, 72 RBI, a .299/.332/.554 slash, 156 wRC+, and 4.5 WAR.

By his early 30s, Cuttone started struggling more against lefties. He was used in a platoon role in 1995 and was primarily a backup in 1996 with only 21 starts. Cuttone was a full-time starter in 1997 and started most of 1998 with still respectable numbers. In 1999, he only started 17 games with very average results over 115 games. Cuttone’s contract ended there and he was unsigned in 2000 despite his efforts to find a home. He finally retired that winter at age 38.

Cuttone finished with 2041 hits, 1025 runs, 309 doubles, 406 home runs, 1246 RBI, a .320/.355/.573 slash, 154 wRC+, and 61.9 WAR. It was a nice career over a fairly short peak, but he definitely was borderline in totals. First basemen especially are often expected to have more eye-popping stats and awards. Cuttone was a good power hitter, but 400 homers is a small number compared to most of the greats at the position. He was also hurt by Rome being a relatively forgettable squad in his time.

Cuttone debuted at 47.9% in 2005 and slowly gained ground. He barely missed in 2008 at 64%, then fell slightly down in 2009 at 60.4%. Cuttone earned a big bump up with a wide open 2010 field with 84.9%, earning a sixth ballot induction to lead EBF’s 2010 Hall of Fame class.