2011 HOF Ballot

[Peter_Spaeth]

Average season: 14-12, 3.31. He never won a Cy Young or even came in second. He made two all star teams. He is not blowing me away as a Hall of Fame pick.

[timber63401]

Blyleven 287 Wins, 242 Complete games, 3701 Strikeouts, 60 Shutouts. Im not saying hes a top ten all time pitcher but he wouldnt be near the worst pitcher in there. Also anyone who doesnt think Alamor deserves in needs to compare his stats to other 2nd baseman that are in, he compares favorably to almost all of them.

[Robextend]

Some arguments for Bert.

Blyleven is 5th all time in strikeouts (3701)...the top 14 in strikeouts are all in the HOF except:

Randy Johnson (Future 1st ballot HOF)
Roger Clemens (1st Ballot if not for cheating)
Greg Maddux (Future 1st ballot HOF)
Pedro Martinez (Future 1st ballot HOF)

He is 27th all time in Wins (287) playing on some awful teams (20 of the 26 in front are in the HOF and 3 are mentioned above).

He is 9th all time in shutouts with an amazing 60, everyone else in the top 20 is in the HOF.

Postseason record 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA and a key part of two WS teams.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I don't think someone should get in for longevity stats alone unless maybe for cracking a magic barrier like 3000 hits or 300 wins. To me a HOFer not only should have great career stats but should, for a reasonable number of years (say 5-7 minimum), have been one of the best players at his position or pitchers in the game. Two all star teams does not say that to me about Blyleven. His status suggest longevity only.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Alomar a definite, Blyleven, best of the rest IMHO

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I don't think someone should get in for longevity stats alone unless maybe for cracking a magic barrier like 3000 hits or 300 wins. To me a HOFer not only should have great career stats but should, for a reasonable number of years (say 5-7 minimum), have been one of the best players at his position or pitchers in the game. Two all star teams does not say that to me about Blyleven. His status suggest longevity only.

I understand your point, but I think All Star game appearances are an overrated factor. Often great players on bad teams won't have many all star appearances.

And do you think Nolan Ryan should be in the HOF? If he only played 23 seasons instead of 27 he wouldn't have 300 wins, and besides strikeouts he never had a dominating stretch of years for any other stat. He never led the league in wins, only led in ERA twice

[celoknob]

If Blyleven had played for the Yankees he would have been in long, long ago. Larkin would make it this year or next if he had been a Yankee or could do backflips like Ozzie Smith. Injuries certainly did have a negative effect on Larkin's career and total numbers; I still have no reservations saying he belongs.

[Section103]

Excellent poll. By the 75% rule, there's still not one who's getting in on our ballots.

Im pleasantly surprised by the amount of votes Bagwell is getting. I dont even know if I consider him a HOFer, but I appreciate the consideration he's getting. It's also interesting to watch the subtext he carries as there are "some" suspicions of steroid use, nothing remotely glaring (hello Palmeiro) and a nice bellweather case for what the voters will do with this entire era of players and "unknown" situations.

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Average season: 14-12, 3.31. He never won a Cy Young or even came in second. He made two all star teams. He is not blowing me away as a Hall of Fame pick.

Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young award or came in 2nd and his average season was 14-13 with a 3.19 ERA.