Baseball Hall of Fame

On Wednesday afternoon, Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame class for 2011 was announced and, as anticipated, Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar amassed the number of votes necessary for their enshrinement in Cooperstown this summer. A Hall of Fame candidate must receive 75 percent of the vote from eligible Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) members to garner induction.

Think back four years ago.

No, not to the point when unemployment was still under 6%, the debt was under $10 trillion or the St. Louis Cardinals were reigning World Series Champions, but to the voting in January 2007.

Baseball writers, fans and historians all knew that it was going to be a unique day, when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, two of the surest Hall of Famers anyone who had watched baseball between 1982 and 2001 ever saw, went into Cooperstown.

It’s always been a restrictive club. A player's got to earn his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, has to pay his dues.

Unanimous election is unheard of; even making it on the first ballot is a challenge.

Yet while many baseball purists and dignitaries alike laud the intricate web of unspoken guidelines that the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) adheres to, others worry that the Hall is becoming too restrictive, showing more respect for baseball historians than the fans.

The Baltimore Orioles have been in the news this week quite a bit.  First it was the startling developments of reliever Alfredo Simon in the alleged shooting on New Year's Eve.  Then some positive personnel developments with the acquisition of first baseman Derrek Lee (pending physical) and closer Kevin Gregg.

The icing on the cake for the O's and their fans was the news today that Roberto Alomar has been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Earlier today, three overqualified Hall of Fame caliber first basemen were denied entry into Cooperstown. 

The first two, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, committed their steroid sins and, right or wrong, are serving their time as the first official martyrs of Bud Selig’s “Steroid Era.”

The third player, Jeff Bagwell, committed an egregious crime of his own.  

He had the audacity to be born in 1968.

People didn't expect Edgar Martinez to earn election into the Hall of Fame today. The fact that he didn't wasn't a shock to anyone.

Some eyebrows were raised when his support dropped by a few votes, though.

The arguments for or against his election can be made over and over. We'd be blue in the face and likely see no one from either side sway to the other. We know the numbers, and we know the DH argument.

Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were voted into the Hall of Fame today, while Jeff Bagwell fell just short with only 41.7 percent of the vote.

Players rarely make it into the Hall of Fame their first time on the ballot, some needing up to all 15 years of eligibility to get in (like Jim Rice). But that doesn't mean they are any less deserving of the honor.

If you need to think about whether or not a player is a hall of famer, then he's not.

It really is that simple.

The players elected to the Hall of Fame should be the guys who give you goosebumps. The hitters who, when they stepped into the batter's box, you stopped to watch. The pitchers who, when they took the mound, gave you a chance to see a no hitter or perfect game.

Lou Gherig. Hank Aaron. Willie Mays. Sandy Koufax. Satchel Paige. Those guys.

The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is getting three new members.

It was announced Wednesday that Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar each received votes from the required 75 percent of the ballots from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to be elected into the Hall of Fame, joining long-time general manager Pat Gillick, who was elected by the Veterans Committee last month.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the induction of Bert Blyleven (among others) after a 14-year wait.  Blyleven's election comes on the heels of the elections of Jim Rice (class of '09) and Andre "Hawk" Dawson ('10) after comparably long waits.  With these three men all in, we can now turn our sights to other players who have spent many years (five or more for the sake of this article) on the ballot and are still waiting for the all-important call from Cooperstown.  I took each player who will be