Justice is served! Bert elected to HOF
Congratulations to our own Bert Blyleven. The BWAA finally decided that Bert was Hall-worthy. He got 79.7% of the vote...
Other notables:
Other notables:
Robby Alomar - 90% (in, easily)
Jack Morris - 53% (may get there)
Jeff Bagwell - 41.7% (may get there)
McGwire - 19.8% (will have to sweat it, will be interesting to follow)
Palmeiro - 11% (good luck, dude, you shouldn't have done the finger wag)
8 Comments:
About f'ing time. The guy finished his career third all-time in K's, had more complete game shutouts than anyone the last half century and threw what's universally considered the best curveball since Sandy Koufax, and it took 14 tries? Ridiculous.
Perhaps what will become the most interesting thing about Blyleven's induction down the road is that it's symbolic on two intertwined fronts:
1. The use of advanced statistics to evaluate players has (perhaps) finally overtaken the stubborn old school focus on W's and where a guy finished in Cy Young voting 35 years ago when nobody knew diddly-shit about anyone they didn't see with their own lying eyes. The fact that Felix Hernandez won the Cy this year and Blyleven finally made the Hall the same offseason is not a coincidence, I think.
2. The rise and importance of the internet. If it hadn't been for the voices of a million bloggers throwing reams of, you know, evidence and stuff, at numbnuts like Jon Heyman and the various fossils with votes out there, Bert would NEVER have gotten in. Shame through a new media tool has worked its magic.
Separate Note: CONGRATS TO JAN AND MRS. JAN!
January 6, 2011 at 12:24 PM
Finally. I am sure that Bert will never bring up that he is a HOFer on a TV broadcast.
January 6, 2011 at 12:25 PM
Also notable that BG didn't mention: Barry Larkin will probably make it next year. Moved up a good bit this year, no one new of any great significance on the ballot next year means he probably is the top choice for a lot of voters. So an advance shout out to the player I most tried to emulate as a teenager.
Also, perhaps blasphemy coming from a 'Sotan, but I think Morris is close to tapped out in support, and I'm fine with that. I was AT Game 7 in '91 and I still don't think he should be in the Hall of Fame. He'd have the highest ERA in the Hall at 3.90 during a pretty neutral offensive era. He's the opposite of Blyleven in so many ways - he had a couple signature games and piled up a lot of All-Star appearances and W's and Cy Young votes playing on winners his entire career. But he was rarely excellent or better over the course of a season, and by advanced statistical measures, he falls into the category of "pretty good" or possibly "really good." He didn't have the signature pitch Bert had, he didn't have the longevity, he didn't have the K's, he didn't have the complete games and shutouts. All he had was a high win % and one of the best games of all time. That's not enough for me.
January 6, 2011 at 12:50 PM
MCA breaking out the advanced statistics. They are so much more useful than the baseball card test I use. If they were worthy of going in a sheet for at least 80% of their career they get my vote. Jack Morris with the exception of his rookie year and 2nd year cards do not pass that test either. It is probably more accuate than the number of ailments that were cured with a good blood letting. A couple of short comings: Don Mattingly would be in, Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry would be out.
January 6, 2011 at 2:14 PM
He is now going to be insufferable in the broadcast booth but he deserved it.
BG - loved the "Palmeiro" comment. Alternative ending - "You should have stopped with the 'lying to Congress'."
I don't think Morris is gonna make it, Bagwell should be but people probably assume he did roids (unfair), speaking of - 2013 will be interesting with a cast of Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa, I say none get in right away and a not-so-bold-prediction: BWAA pusses out and lets them all in eventually justifying it under some "we have to recognize it as part of the games history" bullshit but fact is they are all George Will-ian nerds who worshiped these false idols.
January 6, 2011 at 2:39 PM
1. Jan, meet the kettle! Blogging about George Will-ian nerds the day after his wife has a baby.
2. I submit that for most of the existence of the BBWAA and its voting on the baseball Hall of Fame, putting the vote to a bunch of 10-year-olds who use the RTS card test would probably yield better results.
January 6, 2011 at 3:26 PM
MCA - I am now the father of 2 girls, my posting on this blog has less to do with my being a Poindexter like Will and more to do with the fact the space in my life for testeosterone-related pursuits has shrunken considerably in the last 24 hours and I now need to grab on tight to any life rafts of my manhood like charlton heston and a 12 gauge. While demented and sad, FTLOSBW is one of those life rafts for me now, please, don't poke holes.
Btw - My 2 year old just jumped on the family jewels. See.
January 6, 2011 at 4:56 PM
Ahhh, OK, gotcha, Jan. We're here for you, dude. This will always be a place for you to throw f-bombs and virtual fart in complete comfort, no worries.
Hope you're getting some sleep.
The silver lining is that you may not need those family jewels any longer, unless a No. 3 is in the plan.
January 7, 2011 at 12:32 PM
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