It was announced today that Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame for induction on July 24, 2011 in Cooperstown, New York. Alomar is a career .300 hitter with an on-base percentage of .371 over his 17 year career that included seven teams. Blyleven had a 287-250 record in his 22 seasons, with a careen ERA of 3.31, with 242 complete games, 60 shutouts and over 3,700 strikeouts. It was Alomar’s second year of eligibility receiving 90% of the vote while Blyleven received 79.7% of the vote in his 14th year of eligibility.
There were 14 players on the ballot that did not receive the required 75% for induction that will continue to be on the ballot next year. These players include; Barry Larkin, Jack Morris, lee Smith, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Edgar Martinez, Alan Trammell, Larry Walker, Mark McGwire, Fred McGriff, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez. Only Larkin (62.1%) and Morris (53.5%) received more than 50% of the vote. Lee Smith is 3rd all time in saves (478) and received 45.3% of the vote. Rafael Palmeiro received only 11% of the votes.
Dave Parker has been on the ballot 15 years and did not receive enough votes for induction and will not be eligible for next year’s vote.
Two players that did not receive 5% of the vote and will not be eligible for next nears vote are Harold Baines and John Franco. In a 22 year career, Baines had 2,866 hits and 384 home runs. He is a career .289 hitter. If Baines played for one more season, he would likely have had 3,000 career hits. Would he then be a Hall of Famer? Franco is the career leader saves leader for left-handed pitchers. Should that not be enough for a hall of Fame vote? We will never know as neither player will be eligible for voting until the Veteran’s Committee gets their chance.
The Hall of Fame voting for 2012 ill include the players listed above and will also include players such as Bernie Williams, Javy Lopez, Ruben Sierra and Tim Salmon.
