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Blyleven anticipated latest HOF snub
January 12th, 2009, 12:12 pm · 6 Comments · posted by Earl Bloom, staff writer
Bert Blyleven said Monday that he was happy for Jim Rice “after 15 years of waiting” 
and for first-ballot choice Rickey Henderson on their election to baseball’s Hall of Fame.
But the former Angels right-hander remained on the outside looking in, finishing fourth with 62.7 percent of the vote in his 11th year of eligibility. It takes 75 percent for election by the BBWAA.
“That’s about what I was anticipating,” said Blyleven, who received 61.9 percent of the vote last year.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Blyleven said by telephone from Fort Myers, Fla., where he is participating in the Minnesota Twins’ Fantasy Camp. “I don’t understand what their criteria are.”
Blyleven ranks fifth in strikeouts with 3,701 and ninth in shutouts with 60. His victory total of 287 ranks 27th.
Blyleven recalled Henderson as one of the toughest hitters he ever faced. “He could beat you in so many ways, with his bat, his speed, everything,” Blyleven said.
Both Henderson and Blyleven played for many teams but remarkably were never teammates.
“Rickey enjoyed hitting against me so much is probably why that never happened,” Blyleven said.
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I see exactly what the problem is. Blyleven never played for the Yankees or Red Sox. The teams he played for are the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians and Angels. I’m not sure if any of the teams he was on were considered big market teams at the time he played but right now the only team considered a big market team on that list is the Angels and we know how most people feel about the Angels. They aren’t the Yankees or Red Sox.
Of course, Jim Rice was only a Red Sox player and Ricky Henderson was on the Yankees and Red Sox. There, I guess that proves my point. Shame on you Hall of Fame voters.
It’s gotta be the worst picture of Blyleven ever taken.
As for Brian’s comment, Rice unjustifiably had to wait 15 years to get in, whether he was from Boston or not.
Blyleven is not being snubbed because of provincialism or the mythical East Coast Bias. I feel he should have been in by now, but it wasn’t for lack of visibility. The Twins and Pirates both won World Series when he was there. He is being snubbed, as I thought I wrote last week, because there’s a wing of writers who don’t think he was a dominant pitcher at any specific point but instead was a “compiler.” I don’t agree, but it’s not a matter of geographical prejudice.
Henderson played only 72 games for the Red Sox _ I had even forgotten he was there. He also played for the Angels. And he is most associated with the Atheltics. He was only with the Yankees 4 1/2 years and had four different tours with Oakland. That’s where he was when he broke the steals record.
He would have made the Hall on the first ballot if he’d spent his whole career in Kansas City (as George Brett did).
I guess the Hall voters, of which I’m one, will just have to deal with the curse you place on our heads.
at this point, bert (horrible photo above) isn’t suffering from any kind of invisibility. if anything, he’s the most discussed, martyred HOF candidate since santo. he should be in; he pitched spectacularly well for a long time. if sutton is in, blyleven should be in. if i voted, i’d pick raines and blyleven and probably dwight evans ahead of rice, but reasonable people can argue otherwise.
maybe the photographer was 5′2″ or something…
as for Jim Rice, all I can say is: Jim Rice???
I always thought Dwight Evans was really underrated. But if it took Rice 15 years to get in, there was no room at the inn for Evans. He was actually a disappointment for most of his 20’s, except for his outstanding defense. He got better as he got older. The year that he was most dominant was 1981, which was interrupted for two months by a strike.
Rice, from 1977-79, was a devastating force and the most feared hitter in the game. He slugged .596 and .600 back to back. His .502 lifetime slugging pct. was higher than Banks, Cepeda, Reggie Jackson and Billy Williams. He led the AL in total bases four times and had four 200-hit seasons.
He also was top-five in MVP voting five times and won it once, judged by those who watched him play the most. Evans was rightfully turned over to the veterans’ committee. No shame there _ it’s where Gil Hodges and Ron Santo languish.
Bert Blyleven is the ONLY pitcher in major league baseball history, to pitch all his games AFTER the mound was lowered, pitch almost all of his years in the A.L. (and it’s DH), who won more than 252 games, and won 20% or more of those wins via shutout.
THE ONLY PITCHER EVER TO DO IT! Nobody else has ever done it.
And, he’s not good enough for the HOF? That’s insane!