Hall Of Fame Inductions Announced

By Gary W. Marchese Jr.

Cooperstown, NY (Jan 5) – The Hall Of Fame announced their list of candidates for the class of 2011 Wednesday afternoon. It was no surprise Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar were elected.

Alomar in only his second year of eligibility got in with overwhelming support; he received 90% of the vote. Blyleven got just over 75% to get in on his 14^th try. Blyleven debuted with just 15% and has made the steady climb especially in the last few years. He does have 280 wins to go along with his 250 losses. I think the way this happens is that these days there is a lot of information available and it is on the internet.

A lot of the writers have time to sit and look at everything and just keep going over it on their computer and then also peer pressure starts coming into play and all of a sudden you have a majority voting for him when 14 yrs ago a majority voted against him. There also sometimes players that get in that help another candidacy and grassroots campaigns for a certain person. I do not have a vote for the Hall Of Fame but I think if I did, I would vote against Blyleven. I do consider myself tough when it comes to these things.

Blyleven was a very good pitcher but I do not know if he was elite, he played for a very long time earning him many wins. The main problem I would have with Blyleven making it in is that people like Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Jack Morris; they should all get in if Blyleven can. If you look at the numbers they are comparable and maybe better then Blyleven, there are others also-it kind of opens up the floodgates.

Alomar I would not have any doubt on, he was a second baseman that was doing things that no other second baseman of his time came close too. Alomar had the ugly spitting incident with John Hirschbeck that I don’t think can be ignored but I think it is more important to realize it was an ugly mistake and he has made something out of a bad situation. Alomar and Hirschbeck became good friends and still are to this day.

There are always comparisons to other players and eras also and this is what keeps baseball alive and strong. Bert Blyleven had an amazing rise from under 20% to over 75% to get in and that is a sign of the times that certain people can be helped out by the internet. It is also amazing to me how great the backlash against the steroid era players has been. I personally do not think Mark McGwire is a hall of famer anyway but he cannot even get 20% and Rafael Palmeiro who has the numbers but got just 11%, I think that is more about him in front of congress.

The real test will come when people like Bonds and Clemens come up for election and eventually Alex Rodriguez. I think those guys will get in but it will be interesting to see if they are kept out for at least their first try due to the steroid admissions and suspicions. The one problem with the steroid era players coming up now on the ballots is that every year we are going to go back, relive the steroid topic, and never truly move on from it.

Posted by gmarchesej on January 7, 2011. Filed under News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,Sports,US Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.