"Circle Me Bert"...Hall of Fame voting results due today...

[SaveElmer]

Bert Blyleven belongs in the Hall...it is criminal he has been left out all these years...

And I would say the same for Jim Rice, Jack Morris and Tony Oliva!!!

[WeRQ4U]

1. Absolutely NUTS!!!

But I'm a homer, of course.

Number 5 all time in strikeouts. 8th in shutouts. 17th in Wins. There is only ONE pitcher that has a higher rank in all three categories than Bert Blyleven.............Nolan Ryan.

Here's a great site with information and a case for his induction.

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2005/12/the_hall_of_fam.php

[SaveElmer]

2. Just because you are a homer does not mean you are wrong...

Check this out from Jayson Stark...

Points out why Blyleven's win percentage was lower than it should have been...

<snip>

Second, I admit I was swayed by a fabulous piece by Bill James in the new, indispensable "Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2006."

James couldn't figure out why a guy with Blyleven's stats won "only" 287 games, or ended up "only" 37 games over .500. So he walked through Blyleven's career, start by start, and then compared it to the careers of the best Hall of Fame candidates of that era.

He found Blyleven had the worst run support of any pitcher in the group except Don Sutton and accumulated the most "tough losses," a stat James invented personally to measure losses in which pitchers deserved better. There is zero doubt Blyleven already would be a Hall of Famer if he'd won 300 games. And that research helped explain the mystery of why he didn't.

<snip>

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2283084

[WeRQ4U]

3. Great article.

Personally, I'm sick and tired of hearing about his two main knocks:

1) He doesn't have 300 wins. - This article explains why
2) That he gave up too many home runs - So what, he still kept his run numbers down and his K's up.

He probably won't make it this year, but soon rather than later.

[SaveElmer]

5. He'll get there anyway...

One of my most prized possessions is my 1987 Homer Hanky autgraphed by Bert...and when I was a kid my dad took me to Bert's first game as a Twin's rookie...

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Same Thing James Said About Ryan

James was the first one who noticed that Ryan is the only pitcher to ever lead the league in ERA and have a losing season. And, it happened to him twice. I then did an analysis of his record and found that if he had played for "average" hitting teams, both for power and BA, for just those two years, he would have won 14 games and, of course, lost 14 fewer. For just those two seasons, his record over 500 would have gone up 28 games. Suddenly, he would have been in the middle of the pack among Hall of Fame pitchers for winning percentage, and the argument goes away.

Blyleven is in the same boat.
The Professor

[SaveElmer]

9. I think that shows fastballs are sexier than curveballs..

Ryan undoubtedly had the best fastball of his era...and Bert probably had the best curve...

[WeRQ4U]

10. It also shows the undeserved weight placed on number of wins.

The CY Young voting is plagued by the same misplaced credit on wins. Johan Santana suffered from this last season. He was, undoubtedly, the best pitcher in the AL last season. But becasue his team couldn't score a run to save it's soul, he had fewer wins that Bartolo, and therefore, lost out on the trophy.

[SaveElmer]

12. Exactly right...

Santana had a wide lead in strikouts, and barely second in ERA (I believe) ...and was still 17-6 with the anemic Twins offense (which I think will be better this year)...

No doubt he was the best pitcher in the AL last year-

[maveric]

16. ERA is the true measure of a great pitcher.

In 1986 Nolan Ryan went 8-16 for the Astros. He also had the lowest ERA in the majors and led the majors in strikeouts.
Wins arent the true measure.

[WeRQ4U]

17. I couldn't agree more.

If you're ERA is over 4, you can still get 20 wins if your team scores 5 a game for you. I've never understood why sports writers place so much emphasis on it.

CY Young had 500+ wins........but he also pitched every two days or so.

[LynneSin]

4. Davey Concepcion should be in there

It makes Baby Jesus cry that he's not!

[SaveElmer]

6. Yep...another worthy...

No doubt!

[eyepaddle]

7. I'mwith you on this (That is a grea article!)

Blyleven desergves to be in the hall. Personally I doubt it will happen though. ;(

[WeRQ4U]

11. He'll make it.

He's been steadily increasing in percentage each of his 9 years on the ballot. He'll go over 50% this year, and within the next 6, he'll make it to 75%. At least I would hope so.

[eyepaddle]

13. Yeah, I hope so too,

aftr reading that article I do feel better about his chances! :)

[madinmaryland]

14. Two Words. . . . . PETE ROSE

:hide:

[maveric]

15. If Phil Rizzuto is in, all you mentioned should also be enshrined.

Andre Dawson is also on the ballot.

[SaveElmer]

18. Ok Bert didn't get in but...

He jumped to 58% of the ballots...

And the fact that Sutter got in after 12 years is a good sign for Bert...he'll get there!!!!!!!!!

[maveric]

19. What about "Dewey" Dwight Evans?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/evansdw01.shtml

He was consistent for about 20 years. Hit for power, sometimes for average but his fielding is what should get him enshrined.
Dewey was a the best RFer in baseball, PERIOD, for about 15 years. If I'm not mistaken, he won 11 Gold Gloves and had an arm that few players would run on.
Check out his numbers!