Blyleven, Alomar head to Hall

Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

After falling short in his previous 13 tries and coming within five votes of election in 2010, Blyleven was named on 463 ballots and received 79.7 percent of the vote, while Alomar, in just his second year on the ballot, garnered 523 votes for a total of 90 percent.

Eligible candidates needed to be named on 75 percent of the 581 ballots submitted by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, meaning 436 votes were necessary for election.

Blyleven won 287 games over a 22-year career and ranks fifth on the all-time strikeout list with 3,701. Alomar, meanwhile, is generally considered one of the best second basemen to ever play the game, especially defensively, as he won 10 Gold Gloves and his .984 fielding percentage is the highest of any player at his position in American League history.


In addition to Blyleven and Alomar, the Class of 2011 will also include former Phillies general manager Pat Gillick, who was a Veterans Committee selection, as well as Ford C. Frick Award winner Dave Van Horne and Spink Award winner Bill Conlin of The Philadelphia Daily News.

The right-handed Blyleven, known for his sharp curveball, was a two-time All- Star and ranks 10th in starts (685), ninth in shutouts (60), 26th in wins, and 14th in innings pitched (4,970.0). He led the AL in shutouts three times, while reaching 20 wins just one time in his remarkable career.

Blyleven, who tossed a no-hitter in 1977, had 16 seasons with 200-plus innings pitched, including 10 in a row, and six in a row with more than 275.

He broke into the majors in 1970 with the Minnesota Twins and also pitched for Texas, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and the Angels. He won World Series titles with the Pirates in 1979 and the Twins in 1987.

Blyleven was the AL's Comeback Player of the Year in 1989 when at the age of 38 went 17-8 with a 2.73 ERA for the Angels, one year after losing a league- high 17 games for the Twins.

The switch-hitting Alomar, who fell eight votes shy of election last year, compiled a lifetime .300 batting average, surpassing the .320-mark five times during his 17-year career. He also topped 20 homers three times, 100 runs batted in twice, and 100 runs scored on six separate occasions. An exceptional baserunner, Alomar stole more than 40 bases four times, en route to swiping 474 bags for his career.

He entered the majors in 1988 with the San Diego Padres, but also played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Alomar ended his career in 2004 with 2,724 hits, 210 home runs, 1,134 RBI and 1,508 runs scored.

His best season came in 1993 with the Blue Jays when he batted .326 with 193 hits, 109 runs, 35 doubles, 17 homers, 93 RBI, 55 steals, 80 walks, and a .408 OBP. He also hit .480 in the World Series that season, helping the Blue Jays to their second straight title.

Of course Alomar's career was marred by an unfortunate event in 1996 when the then-Oriole spat in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck, who threw him out of the game for arguing a called third strike.

Alomar defended himself by saying Hirschbeck had uttered a racial slur, and that Hirschbeck had been bitter since one son had died of the rare nerve disorder ALD, and another had recently been diagnosed as well.

However, both Alomar and Hirschbeck have long settled their differences and actually have done many charity events together in the time since.

The only other players to gain more than 50 percent of the vote were shortstop Barry Larkin with 361 votes (62.1 percent) and pitcher Jack Morris with 311 (53.5 percent).

Both Larkin and Morris will remain on the ballot for next year, as will first basemen Mark McGwire, Fred McGriff and Don Mattingly; outfielders Tim Raines and Dale Murphy; designated hitter-third baseman Edgar Martinez; shortstop Alan Trammell and relief pitcher Lee Smith.

Sixteen players did not receive the necessary five percent to remain on the ballot. Those players were Harold Baines, John Franco, Kevin Brown, Tino Martinez, Marquis Grissom, Al Leiter, John Olerud, B.J. Surhoff, Bret Boone, Benito Santiago, Carlos Baerga, Lenny Harris, Bobby Higginson, Charles Johnson, Raul Mondesi and Kirk Rueter.

Also, Dave Parker received 89 votes (15.3 percent) in his 15th and final year on the ballot.