HOF Day - Alomar and Blyleven

[Rob L]

I feel the same way about Blyleven. A good pitcher in his day who played on two WS winners but not really hall worthy in my opinion. Had longevity on his side more then anything. Good for him though.

Really? Would 17 more wins make him a cinch?

[xpress34]

I feel the same way about Blyleven. A good pitcher in his day who played on two WS winners but not really hall worthy in my opinion. Had longevity on his side more then anything. Good for him though.

17 of 22 seasons - 200+ IP
8 of 22 seasons - 200+ K
242 CG and 60 SO in 22 years (that's an avg of 12 CG and 3 SO a year)
3705 K (5th all time)

His line avg for a 162 game season:

14W - 12L (.534 W %) ; 3.31 ERA ; 34 GS - 12 CG - 3 SO ; 242 IP ; 183 K

I'll take that AVG over a 22 season anyday

[Vintagedeputy]

I hope this is sarcasm. If not, you must not have seen him play from 1990-2000.

Its not sarcasm, and I'm not saying that he isn't worthy....he just wouldn't be the first name that comes to my mind if you were trying to pick HOF 2nd basemen.

[Dewey2007]

I guess I just didn't see him pitch enough but to me he was just very good over a long period of time. I just don't think of greatness when I think of Blyleven's career. I don't think you can say he was the dominant pitcher of his era or even a top 5 guy really. But who am I to say. He got in and that's all that counts. He's been waiting a long time for this so you have to be happy for the guy.

[kellsox]

17 of 22 seasons - 200+ IP
8 of 22 seasons - 200+ K
242 CG and 60 SO in 22 years (that's an avg of 12 CG and 3 SO a year)
3705 K (5th all time)

His line avg for a 162 game season:

14W - 12L (.534 W %) ; 3.31 ERA ; 34 GS - 12 CG - 3 SO ; 242 IP ; 183 K

I'll take that AVG over a 22 season anyday

Blyleven does not strike me as a hall of fame pitcher. His stats were an accumulation of being a good pitcher for an extended period of time. during that extended time i dont believe he was close to being a "feared" pitcher A 14-12 average record screams above average to me, not greatness. Seems to be getting a little easier to get into the hall of fame. He probably is a better candidate for the "hall of very good"

[BostonSportsFan]

Its not sarcasm, and I'm not saying that he isn't worthy....he just wouldn't be the first name that comes to my mind if you were trying to pick HOF 2nd basemen.

In no particular order, he ranks right up in this top 5 of the greatest 2nd basemen to ever play the game including Jackie Robinson, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Morgan, Eddie Collins and maybe Nap Lajoie. I have always seen him ranked ahead of Sandberg, Carew, etc.

In every list I have ever seen he is listed in the top 3 - 5 usually of all time by the people who study this stuff for a living.

He was a magician with a glove and at one point in the 90's was one of the top 5 players in baseball at any position when you consider he could hit for average, steal bases, incredible defense, had some pop to his bat etc.

Just my take

Joe

[mbrieve]

Blyleven does not strike me as a hall of fame pitcher. His stats were an accumulation of being a good pitcher for an extended period of time. during that extended time i dont believe he was close to being a "feared" pitcher A 14-12 average record screams above average to me, not greatness. Seems to be getting a little easier to get into the hall of fame. He probably is a better candidate for the "hall of very good"

He was only 17 wins away from being a 300 Wins and 3000 K's guy. Also, isn't longevity a sign of greatness and almost a prerequisite for the HOF? There are a lot of guys that had great 8-10 year careers and then injuries catch up with them.

[kellsox]

He was only 17 wins away from being a 300 Wins and 3000 K's guy. Also, isn't longevity a sign of greatness and almost a prerequisite for the HOF? There are a lot of guys that had great 8-10 year careers and then injuries catch up with them.

Longevity doesn't equal greatness( although it can). In blyleven's case it shows the ability to pitch consistently and avoid career/perfomance ending injury. In 22 seasons He made 2 all-star teams, finished in the top 10 in cy young voting 4 times and won 20 games 1 time. That doesnt seem like someone who is deserving of being honored as one of baseballs all time greats.

[ahuff]

You can use this to see how Blyleven stacks up against other great/future HOF players. I was shocked to see how close he was to Maddux in many of the categories.

http://www.bertbelongs.com/pages/pitchers_duel.html

[Sincityson]

To appreciate Alomar, one had to see him play day in & day out. His fielding skills as a second baseman were incredible.

I hope this is sarcasm. If not, you must not have seen him play from 1990-2000.