The National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 has been announced as CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner will be heading to Cooperstown to be enshrined forever alongside the greats of the game.

While the baseball world celebrates these three great ballplayers, there are some who have real cases for the Hall of Fame who saw another year go by without getting a chance to enter the Hall.

One of them is Kenny Lofton, the six-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glover who spent 17 seasons in the MLB with 2,428 hits and a 68.4 WAR over 2,103 games.

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Now, when the day comes like Tuesday when the Hall of Fame ballots are counted and the results come in, Lofton hasn’t been rubbed the wrong way. He knows that after failing to secure at least 5% of the ballot in 2013, he is no longer eligible for regular re-election.

But there’s no doubt Lofton still feels hurt that he didn’t get what he believes is a fair chance to be in Cooperstown.

“I didn’t get credit for what I did. It’s kind of sad. I still don’t get credit,” Lofton told Pakinomist Digital while discussing his role as an advisor with Sluggball, a reimagined approach to the game of baseball.

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“I can only say all the time that from my era and my time I did what I had to do. I thought at that time it was very important for me to do my job as a teammate and it was an important part of the game Now you look at it like I’m doing my job and I’m a team player. Instead of me being selfish like other guys, it was about them eating. I served and they ate, but I didn’t get the credit to serve the food to them.”

Lofton’s first year on the Hall of Fame ballot was perhaps one of the most stacked ballots ever, even though there was no living inductee for the first time since 1965. There were 10 players, including Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza and Edgar Martinez, who eventually got the 75% of the vote needed to get in, but guys like Lofton and Bernie Williams were left off the ballot the next year because at least 5% of the votes to move on.

And as Lofton mentioned, the baseball era he played in, infamously known as the Steroid Era, had players like Barry Bonds (36.2%), Mark McGwire (16.9%), Sammy Sosa (12.5%) and Rafael Palmeiro (8.8%) also on the ballot with him.

Ichiro played in that era as well, entering the MLB at the age of 27 in 2001 and still delivering 3,089 hits over 19 seasons. Only one Hall of Fame voter abstained from voting for him despite, like Derek Jeter, making a very strong case for a unanimous vote.

Lofton loves that Ichiro got his due, as does Tim Raines, whose 23-year career saw a speedy outfielder who hit for average rather than home runs. But he feels like he’s in the same conversation.

“That’s what hurts me to see this, and to see Ichiro with the opportunity to show, OK, here are some smaller guys that aren’t just about home runs, can get in the game, and then you compare my talk to Ichiro, we’re not too far off,” Lofton explained.

Cleveland Indians center fielder Kenny Lofton bunts during a game at Jacobs Field. (David Richard-USA Today Sports)

That being the case, Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is a mark many voters use to see if a player should be in the Hall of Fame. Ichiro had a 60.0 WAR, while Lofton was at 68.4 over his career.

And when you look at their career season averages side by side, Lofton was better in stolen bases (48 to 31), home runs (10 to 7), RBI (60 to 48) and runs (118 to 87). Ichiro beats Lofton in batting average (.311 to .299), but only by two in hits (189 to 187).

Then there’s sabermetrician Jay Jaffe’s “The Cooperstown Casebook,” which outlines the JAWS metrics for determining who should and shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. JAWS is a player’s WAR on average with their 7-year peak WAR.

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Lofton is 10th all-time for center fielders with a 55.9 JAWS mark. Every player above him is in the Hall of Fame except for Mike Trout (fifth), who is still playing, and Carlos Beltran (ninth), who remains on the ballot and just missed getting in this year with 70.3% of the vote.

Richie Ashburn, Andrew Dawson, Billy Hamilton, Larry Doby, Earl Averill, Max Carey and Kirby Puckett are all players with a lower JAWS rating who are in the Hall.

Finally, Lofton’s ability to steal bases—he’s 15th all-time with 622 stolen bags—made him a threat when he got on base. In fact, he is one of only nine players with 600 career steals and 600 extra-base hits, but he is the only one not in Cooperstown.

“All I’m asking people is to look at my numbers a little bit more,” Lofton said. “… That’s all I wanted because when you look at the stats and what people are saying, I have one of the highest WARs in history, especially for midfielders.”

If the numbers aren’t enough, Lofton talked about his peers reminiscing about his time in the league.

Cleveland Indians center fielder Kenny Lofton in action against the Texas Rangers at Jacobs Field during the 1996 season. (RVR Photos-USA Today Sports)

“I talked to [Hall of Famer] Barry Larkin and he says, ‘In the era that you played, Kenny, you were the best thing out there,'” Lofton said. you were in the outfield.’ It made me feel good for another player to say that about me.

“When David Justice during the World Series, he said, ‘Kenny, our main thing was to keep you off the bases.’ He said, ‘We didn’t have a big meeting that said keep the damn Kenny Lofton off the bases and we’re going to win this series.’ So it did me good to hear that kind of thing from the players you played with.”

There is still a way for Lofton to get into the House when the Contemporary Committee votes in December 2025. But the ballot is only eight candidates, with 75% of the vote also needed to get into the House.

However, Lofton already went through it in 2022 when Fred McGriff was selected by the committee. McGriff finished his 19-year career with 493 homers and a 52.6 WAR.

Again, Lofton isn’t knocking any of these players for getting their plaque in the Hall. All he wants is the consideration he feels he deserves.

Because it has gotten to the point where he questions whether his efforts were worth it.

Former Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove and Kenny Lofton during a pregame celebration for the 1995 team before the Tampa Bay Rays game at Progressive Field. (Ken Blaze-USA Today Sports)

“Sometimes I look back on it like, ‘Dude, did I play the game the right way?'” Lofton asked. “People get all these accolades for what they’re doing now. I’m like, wait a minute, I guess what I did wasn’t anything at this point and looked at how they perceive the game and how they look at it. The way they look at it is leadoff hitter means nothing runs batted in and they get praise from runs batted in. But how would that happen if a guy didn’t get on base to get that RBI And he didn’t get credit, that’s sad?

“All I want people to do is look at my numbers and compare. And when they say in your era in your position or whatever, were you the best? At this point they’re looking around at it. I just want the committee to look at it and say, ‘He’s the best at it.’ But I don’t know, but look at my numbers and compare me to people who are already in the Hall of Fame.”