Lance Berkman upset he's off Hall of Fame ballot after 1 year

Longtime Houston Astros slugger Lance Berkman saw his name land on the ballot for Cooperstown this year - for the first and ultimately last time.

Berkman, whose pro career ended after the 2013 campaign, received five out of a possible 425 votes (1.2 percent) from the Baseball Writers' Association of America and will not be on next year's ballot.

The result didn't sit well with Berkman, especially since he views his own career as virtually identical to that of former Seattle Mariners mainstay Edgar Martinez. Martinez was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January with 85.4 percent of the vote.

Lance Berkman on falling off the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot after only one year: "It's hard to figure that a guy in Edgar Martinez, who had a great career, gets 85% of the vote and I virtually had the same career and I get less than 5%. There's something off about that." pic.twitter.com/HvuHeTotKV
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 5, 2019

Berkman played 15 seasons between the Astros, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Rangers. The six-time All-Star slashed .293/.406/.537 with 366 home runs, 422 doubles, and 1,234 RBIs over 1,879 games. He posted a 144 wRC+ for his career and was worth 56.0 WAR. Berkman capped it off by winning a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011.

Comparably, Martinez - who was in his 10th and final year of Hall of Fame eligibility - hit .312/.418/.515 with 309 homers, 514 doubles, and 1,261 RBIs over 2,055 games in 18 seasons. He was worth 65.5 WAR and had a career wRC+ of 147.

Berkman could still be inducted in the Hall of Fame but would have to be inducted via committee, as Harold Baines and Lee Smith were this winter.