**Eric Milton traded to Phillies for IF Nick Punto, RP Carlos Silva and PTBNL

Wednesday December 3, 2003

 

TWINS LOSE HAWKINS

MATT MORRIS – NEW HERO?
NFL “EXPERT” PICKS CORRECTION
 

HALL OF FAMERS –

RETURNING PLAYERS

Yesterday, I discussed the players who will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. In it, I noted that my opinion is that both Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley would receive my vote. I think Joe Carter will receive enough votes to remain on the ballot, but I think the rest of the former players will receive less than 5% of the vote.

A player must have received at least 5% (and obviously less than the 75% needed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame) to remain on the ballot. The player must then be selected a Hall of Famer within 15 years or his name is removed from the Hall of Fame ballot. He then would not be eligible for induction until he is eligible to be selected by the Veteran’s Committee.

Today, I will briefly discuss those players returning to the ballot, starting with someone Twins fans will recognize and probably argue more vehemently about his Hall of Fame status. Although I do believe that at least one of the below players should be a Hall of Famer, one question does have to be asked in this discussion. What have these players done in the past year that makes them a Hall of Famer? Did they suddenly add 50 home runs or lose 0.50 on their career ERA?

Bert Blyleven - Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, California Angels

How is it possible that the 52 year old Bert Blyleven is not a Hall of Famer? Two World Series Championships (’79 with the Pirates, ’87 with the Twins). 9^th on the All-Time Shutout list with 60. When Bert Blyleven retired, he was 3^rd on the All-Time strikeout list with 3,701 strikeouts. He is still 5^th place on that list:

1.)      Nolan Ryan  5,714

2.)      Steve Carlton  4,136

3.)      Roger Clemens  4,099

4.)      Randy Johnson  3,871

5.)      Bert Blyleven  3,701

6.)      Tom Seaver  3,640

7.)      Don Sutton  3,574

8.)      Gaylord Perry  3,534

9.)      Walter Johnson  3,509

10.)   Phil Niekro  3,342

11.)   Fergie Jenkins  3,192

12.)   Bob Gibson  3,117

I think we all know that Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson will be first-ballot Hall of Famers. So, no pitcher with more than 3,000 career strikeouts is NOT in the Hall of Fame… except one, Bert Blyleven. Why does that make sense? Why don’t voters vote for him? If he had not played those couple of years for bad Cleveland teams and somehow won 12 more ball games, there would be absolutely no question that Bert Blyleven would have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Let’s take a quick look at the 10 players that Baseball Reference says are most similar to Bert Blyleven:

1.)      Don Sutton

2.)      Gaylord Perry

3.)      Fergie Jenkins

4.)      Tommy John

5.)      Robin Roberts

6.)      Tom Seaver

7.)      Jim Kaat

8.)      Early Wynn

9.)      Phil Niekro

10.)   Steve Carlton

From that list, all but Tommy John and Jim Kaat have already been inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. So as I’ve asked before, someone please explain to me how Bert Blyleven is not a Hall of Fame pitcher. If you know, please, e-mail me.

Dave Concepcion - Cincinnati Reds

A member of four World Series teams with the vaunted Big Red Machine. The team won championships in 1975 and 1976. Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez have already been inducted from those teams, so I’m sure that’s why he’s still on the ballot. A very solid shortstop for a lot of years, Concepcion was a nine-time All-Star. He was an above average shortstop earning five Gold Glove Awards. A solid performer for some very good teams, but the Hall is for the best of the best!

Andre Dawson - Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Florida Marlins

Hawk had a pretty solid career and you have to wonder what it could have been with two healthy knees! Dawson won eight Gold Glove Awards and was a All-Star eight times as well. He won the 1987 NL MVP despite his Chicago Cubs finishing in last place. Two other times he finished second in MVP voting. His 438 homers rank 29^th all-time and his 1,591 RBI ranks him 28^th.  Was Andre Dawson a great player? Yes! Was he a Hall of Famer? I don’t think so, but he’s close enough that he will remain on the ballot for the duration.

Steve Garvey - Los Angeles, San Diego Padres

Steve Garvey actually put up some very good career numbers. He was a 10 time All-Star. He was 0-3 in his World Series appearances with the Dodgers in the 1970s, but then the team won the 1981 World Series. He then went to San Diego where his team lost in the 1984 World Series. As solid a hitter as Garvey was, he was probably a better defensive player. He won just four Gold Glove Awards, but he held a career .996 Fielding percentage. His 9.04 Range Factor was well above the 7.96 league average. Another good thing about Garvey, he played almost every day and still holds the National League record for consecutive games played!

Rich Gossage – Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Oakland A’s, Seattle Mariners

Goose Gossage was intimidating, mustache and all!  Along with Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter, Gossage needs to be judged different than most other pitchers. They were closers before the current closer role was defined. They would pitch 2-3 innings frequently throughout the year. They would come into tie games or when the team was ahead or behind. And, of the three, I think that Gossage was the best. Fingers is already in the Hall, and Sutter is approaching receiving the necessary votes. He was a 9 time All-Star. His 310 saves are 13^th on the all-time list, and Fingers is the only pitcher from his era above him. He even won a World Series ring with the Yankees in 1978. He appeared in the 1981 World Series with the Yankees and the ’84 Series with the Padres, but his teams lost in both cases.

Keith Hernandez - St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians

Keith Hernandez was a very good hitter at 1B as his .296 average and 129 OPS+ can attest, but he is most known for his defense. He also had a .994 career fielding percentage. His 9.73 Range Factor for his career is well above the league average of 8.51. he won 11 Gold Glove Awards! Hernandez was a five-time All-Star. In 1979, he hit .344/.417/513 with 11 HR and 105 RBI to win the NL MVP Award (actually, he and Pirates Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Stargell tied for the award). Hernandez was a part of two World Championship teams; the 1982 Cardinals and the 1986 Mets.

Tommy John – Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles, New York Yankees, California Angels, Oakland A’s