Wednesday
Night, January 6, 2010
Blyleven Just
Short of Hall
While listening to the Hall
of Fame announcement on mlb.com this afternoon, I didn’t expect Bert Blyleven to be named a Hall of Famer.
My hope was that he could hit 70%, or very close to it. Although I would not
have voted for him, I knew that Andre
Dawson would be announced. I fully expected that Roberto Alomar would be named as well. When the announcement was
made, I was surprised, and when the vote tallies were shown, it provoked a few
thoughts:
·
I’m excited about
Blyleven’s increase and how close he is, and yet, as much as we assume that he
will make it next year, we just don’t know.
·
Phil Mackey
was on Paul Allen’s show on KFAN
earlier today, and they Cold-Called Blyleven. Blyleven called back and spent a
good ten minutes talking to the two.
·
First, it is
nearly inexplicable for Roberto Alomar
was not named a Hall of Famer. Like Blyleven, he was close. He was just eight
votes shy of the necessary number. Alomar is the best all-around second
baseman, easily, of the past 20 to 30 years.
·
Jack Morris
increased his percentage to 52.3% I don’t think he is a Hall of Famer, but
seemingly his support is on the rise.
·
I really think
that Barry Larkin is a Hall of
Famer. He was different than the other shortstops of his era, but he was
tremendous all-around. I expected him to get about 50%, and he got 51%
·
Voters really
need to look at Tim Raines again. I
can’t believe only 30% of voters voted for him.
·
It’s always
interesting to see who will come off of the ballot next year. Harold Baines just stayed on the ballot
with 6.1% Andres Galarraga
was at 4.1% When I took a look at his numbers again
the other night, I was absolutely astonished. No, I don’t think he’s a Hall of
Famer, but when you look at those numbers, they are incredible. And, it was
impressive to note how well he did before and after his terrific years in
Colorado.
·
I’m never a
person to take the Hall of Fame votes too seriously, but I do think it matters.
I don’t get offended when someone like David
Segui or Pat
Hentgen get a vote. I doesn’t bother me that Ellis
Burks got two or Robin Ventura
got seven. I do get annoyed when players like that get a vote and the same
writer doesn’t vote for someone like Blyleven.
·
I do believe that
a writer should absolutely have the right to send in a blank ballot, as
apparently five writers did. I believe that is their right if, and only if,
they truly believe that no one is Hall of Fame worthy (which I just do not
think is feasible).
·
I think that
those who refuse to vote for a guy who is in his first year on the ballot are
ridiculous.
Finally, my vote for the Worst Ballot (and reasoning) of the Year
goes to mlb.com’s Marty Noble. In previous positions, he has covered the Cincinnati
Reds and New York Mets. His ballot consisted of Barry Larkin and Dave Parker.
Of course, I have no problem with Barry
Larkin, who I believe is a Hall of Famer. And Dave Parker had a very good career. My problem is with his
reasoning, as he wrote at mlb.com,
“Parker remains the best player I ever have covered. He
beat opponents every way possible, running over them, if necessary. And he was
better at keeping a clubhouse loose than any player I've experienced.”
Let’s look into that again:
·
“Parker remains the best player I ever have covered” – Is this Hall of Fame criteria now?
·
“He beat opponents every way possible, running over them,
if necessary.” – Dave Parker sounds ‘scrappy.’ I remember Ray Lankford running over a catcher, video that remains on
runner/catcher highlights. And yet, Noble didn’t vote for Lankford. No one did.
·
“And he was better at keeping a clubhouse loose…” – Start the Hall of Fame case for Mike Redmond, the man behind Naked BP!
·
“than any player I've experienced.” – Back to the first thing again. It’s about who he
covered. That speaks to how silly the voting process can be. Marty, there are
29 other teams now, although I realize there were less when you started
writing.
·
Finally, here is
part of his reasoning for not voting for Roberto
Alomar, “I don't care that Hirschbeck
forgave Alomar for spitting at him; I haven't.” Enough said?
Any thoughts? If you have any questions or comments, please comment here.