Tag: HOF

This Day in Twins History – January 6, 2004

Paul Molitor

Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley are named to the MLB Hall of Fame by the baseball writers. Molitor, a Minnesota native, played for the Twins from 1996 through 1998 after playing for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1983-1992 and the Toronto Blue Jays from 1993-1995. Molitor got hit number 3,000 as a Minnesota Twin and finished his career with 3,319 hits.

This Day in Twins History – January 5, 2011

Roberto Alomar, a 12-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winning second baseman, and Bert Blyleven, a 287-game winning pitcher who ranks fifth on the all-time strikeout list, were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Blyleven, who garnered 79.7% of the votes, pitched in 22 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians and California Angels and compiled a 287-250 record with a 3.31 ERA, 242 complete games, 60 shutouts and 3,701 strikeouts in 4,969 1/3 innings. The right-hander pitched a no-hitter on Sept. 22, 1977 for the Rangers against the Angels and shares the AL single-game record for the longest one-hit complete game of 10 innings June 21, 1976. He, too, was a key part of two World Series champions, the 1979 Pirates and the 1987 Twins.

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BBA RECOMMENDS LARKIN, BAGWELL FOR HALL OF FAME

In the annual polling of members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin and former Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell were recommended for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This is the third year the organization has conducted this survey of the membership.

Larkin, a 12-time All-Star who fashioned an .815 OPS over 19 seasons, received the largest percentage of votes, being named on 84.25% of the 148 ballots cast. This is the highest percentage garnered by any player in the three years of BBA voting.

Bagwell, who hit 449 HR and had a .948 OPS in his 15 seasons in Houston, was selected on 115 ballots for a 78.77% rate. As with the official voting done by the Baseball Writers of America, a player must be named on 75% of the ballots to be recommended by the alliance.

Last year, the BBA recommended second baseman Roberto Alomar and pitcher Bert Blyleven, both of whom were inducted into Cooperstown during the summer. In 2010, no player reached the 75% mark in BBA balloting, the year that outfielder Andre Dawson was selected for the Hall by the baseball writers.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance’s vote has no impact on the official vote taken by the Baseball Writers of America. However, the BBA has often been a predictor of major awards granted by the writers.

The final voting results are as follows:

Barry Larkin 84.25%

Jeff Bagwell 78.77%

Edgar Martinez 60.27%

Tim Raines 57.53%

Alan Trammell 44.52%

Mark McGwire 41.10%

Larry Walker 35.62%

Lee Smith 33.56%

Jack Morris 32.19%

Don Mattingly 29.45%

Rafael Palmerio 28.77%

Fred McGriff 28.08%

Dale Murphy 16.44%

Bernie Williams 11.64%

Juan Gonzalez 6.16%

Javy Lopez 2.74%

Brad Radke 2.05%

Tim Salmon 1.37%

Bill Mueller 0.68%

Phil Nevin 0.68%

Ruben Sierra 0.68%

Tony Womack 0.68%

Jeromy Burnitz 0.00%

Vinny Castilla 0.00%

Brian Jordan 0.00%

Terry Mulholland 0.00%

Eric Young 0.00%

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was established in the fall of 2009 for the purpose of fostering collaboration and communication among bloggers from across baseball. The BBA has quickly grown to its current membership of 347 blogs, including some of the most prominent blogs on the Internet, spanning all major league teams and various other general aspects of the game.

More information about the BBA can be found at their website, www.baseballbloggersalliance.wordpress.com, or by contacting the founder and administrator of the organization, Daniel Shoptaw, at founder@baseballbloggersalliance.com.

50 best players not in the Hall of Fame

Baseball: Past and Present is a wonderful blog site that writes about the national pastime and its history has published his second annual look at “the 50 best players that are not yet in the baseball Hall of Fame”. Due to a mix-up on my part, I did not get my votes submitted in time this year but I look forward to participating again next year. It is a fun look at the players that many of us have grown up watching and some that were “a bit before our time”. There are several former Minnesota Twins on the list and it is interesting to see how others view these former Twins as possible hall of famers. If you have a few minutes, check out Graham Womack’s (a fellow BBA member) work entitled “The 50 best players not on the Hall of Fame, version 2.0. I think you will find it worth your time.

Veterans committee finalist’s announced for Hall of Fame

December 1, 2008 – Ten former major league players whose careers started in 1943 or later have been named as finalists for election and entry into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2009. Three former Minnesota Twins players, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, and Luis Tiant are part of this select and talented group. In addition, Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Joe Torre, and Maury Wills make up the rest of the group. Boy, I must be getting old because with the exception of Hodges, I grew up watching all these guys play. How many if any of these former stars will make it is hard to say. The veterans group has not selected anyone for admission in years and the voting rules have changed since the last vote was taken. This year, candidates must garner 75% of the vote from living Hall of Famers. Since there are currently 64 living Hall of Famers, 48 votes will be required for entry.

From this group I sure would like to see Tony O, Jim Kaat, and Maury Wills get in. Voting results are scheduled to be announced on December 8 during baseballs’ winter meetings in Las Vegas. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

December 9 update – Disappointment….is how I would describe my feelings when I heard that for the fourth consecutive time no post 1942 players were selected to the Hall. How can this be, are you telling me none of these guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? That is a bunch of Bull*&^%, a number of these players belong there, the problem is how to get them there. I have no problem with the 64 living Hall of Famers voting but it seems to me that they are all over the board, there is no leadership here, someone needs to stand up and take charge. To achieve the necessary 75% for election, a player must receive 48 votes. The results for the most recent voting were as follows: Ron Santo (39 votes, 60.9 percent), Jim Kaat (38, 59.4 percent), Tony Oliva (33, 51.6 percent), Gil Hodges (28, 43.8 percent), Joe Torre (19, 29.7 percent), Maury Wills (15, 23.4 percent), Luis Tiant (13, 20.3 percent), Vada Pinson (12, 18.8 percent), Al Oliver (nine, 14.1 percent), Dick Allen (seven, 10.9 percent). All 64 living HOF players cast ballots, the Hall of Fame stated that voters could choose up to four candidates, and an average of 3.33 votes per ballot was cast.

Something needs to change, it is not right that players that deserve to be in the HOF are left outside looking in and then years after they pass away, someone decides they do belong in the HOF, that is just not right. This year 256 votes could have been cast and only 213 were cast, that is 43 votes that went unused. Let’s change the rules for this finalist group; I have no problem with at least one player, the highest vote getter getting the call to the hall. If you don’t want to do that, then let’s make sure that each player cast 4 votes on each ballot. You will not cheapen the entry into the MLB Hall of Fame by doing this, you will only make it better for the players and the fans who want to see the stars they cheered for many years get the credit they deserve. All I can say now is “shame on you the living 64 Hall of Famers who have your noses so high in the air that you can’t see the ballot itself”, you guys really disappointed me.