After 14 Years, WAR Puts Blyleven On Cooperstown Dais With Alomar

Milo V. Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame
Buoyant Robert Alomar and Bert Blyleven smile for the press cameras at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City Thursday, Jan. 6, after they were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame the day before.

The results of the 2011 Hall of Fame election represented a mix of old-time traditions with newer trends.
With regard to old patterns, Roberto Alomar gained election to the Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility. Some of the writers belonging to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America chose not to vote for him in his first year, partly because of the longtime philosophy that only a select few should gain the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
And then there was the case of Bert Blyleven, who was elected on the heels of a strong Internet campaign consisting of younger writers who have adopted Sabermetrics, a more mathematical and analytical way of evaluating players’ greatness.
Alomar earned 90 per cent of the vote, putting him well ahead of the 75 per cent threshold needed for election to the Hall of Fame.
In last year’s voting, Alomar garnered only 73 per cent. The stunning 17 per cent upsurge came partly from writers who traditionally withhold their votes for first-time eligibles and partly from writers who penalized Alomar for spitting at umpire John Hirschbeck in 1996. Alomar, who later apologized for the incident, is now friends with Hirschbeck.
A 12-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner, Alomar was an acrobatic defensive second baseman who stole bases (474) and hit for average (.300) and power (210 home runs). He also played for winners – two world championship teams with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and ‘93.
Blyleven’s journey to Cooperstown was far longer than Alomar’s. The longtime right-hander spent 14 seasons on the ballot.
In his first year, he received a mere 17.5 per cent of the vote. But he gradually gained steam, particularly in recent years, through the aid of a new media influence: the Internet. A number of Internet writers championed Blyleven’s cause by citing less traditional statistics, like “wins above replacement level” (WAR).
Two significant jumps for Blyleven came in the last two years. In 2010, he went from 62 per cent to just over 74 per cent of the vote, missing election by five tallies. This year, his total jumped to 79.7 per cent, plenty good enough to make the grade in Cooperstown.
“Fourteen years of praying and waiting and I want to thank the baseball writers for, I think, finally getting it right,” Blyleven told reporters at a New York City news conference one day after being elected.
Blyleven won 287 games during his career, but he suffered from poor run support, losing an inordinate number of games by scores of 1-0 and 2-1. With better support, Blyleven would have easily surpassed the magical 300-win plateau.
He also finished fourth on the all-time strikeout list and hurled 242 complete games, a figure unheard of in today’s game. Additionally, Blyleven was an underrated postseason performer who posted an ERA of 2.35 in the World Series. He contributed to two world championship teams, with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979 and another with the Minnesota Twins in 1987.
Although both stars split their careers among multiple teams, there will be no Hall of Fame plaque controversy. Alomar’s plaque will feature the logo of the Blue Jays, where he won his two World Series rings, while Blyleven’s will sport the logo of the Twins, with whom he pitched 11 seasons.
In the meantime, the rest of the 2011 ballot fell far short of election. Former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin finished third in the vote, receiving 62 per cent support. He would need a 15 per cent jump to make it on next year’s ballot, which is lacking in strong first-time candidates. Jack Morris, formerly the ace of the Detroit Tigers, finished at 53.5 per cent of the vote.
Players who have been linked to steroid usage did not do well on this year’s ballot. Mark McGwire garnered only 19.8 per cent. Rafael Palmeiro, who failed a test for performance enhancing drugs, received a mere 11 per cent in his first year on the ballot. Juan Gonzalez, named in the Mitchell Report, earned barely over 5 per cent.

Bruce Markusen, formerly with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, is a writer and commentator on America’s Pastime.  His Cooperstown Confidential column can be found regularly at http://bruce.mlblogs.com/