2011 Baseball Hall of Fame Class

1. 64

   I am DB Cooperposted 13 years ago

   The baseball writers have selected Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven for this year's Hall of Fame class. Alomar received 90% of the vote, while Blyleven got nearly 80%.

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   1. 71

      bogerkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I am surprised that Fred McGriff only received 17.4% - Apparently I must be missing something there.
      
      It will be interesting to see when and if Edgar Martinez is elected into the Hall of Fame.

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2. 64

   I am DB Cooperposted 13 years ago

   Here are the rest of the vote totals with percentage of writers voting for that player. 75% was needed to get elected, those under 5% are dropped from next year's ballot:
   523 90.0% Roberto Alomar
   463 79.7% Bert Blyleven
   361 62.1% Barry Larkin
   311 53.5% Jack Morris
   263 45.3% Lee Smith
   242 41.7% Jeff Bagwell
   218 37.5% Tim Raines
   191 32.9% Edgar Martinez
   141 24.3% Alan Trammell
   118 20.3% Larry Walker
   115 19.8% Mark McGwire
   104 17.9% Fred McGriff
   89 15.3% Dave Parker
   79 13.6% Don Mattingly
   73 12.6% Dale Murphy
   64 11.0% Rafael Palmeiro
   30 5.2% Juan Gonzalez
   28 4.8% Harold Baines
   27 4.6% John Franco
   12 2.1% Kevin Brown
   6 1.0% Tino Martinez
   4 0.7% Marquis Grissom
   4 0.7% Al Leiter
   4 0.7% John Olerud
   2 0.3% B.J. Surhoff
   1 0.2% Bret Boone
   1 0.2% Benito Santiago
   0 0.0% Carlos Baerga
   0 0.0% Lenny Harris
   0 0.0% Bobby Higginson
   0 0.0% Charles Johnson
   0 0.0% Raul Mondesi
   0 0.0% Kirk Rueter

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3. 74

   LakeShow Tposted 13 years ago

   I am glad to see that Bert Blyleven has finally made the Hall of Fame after all these years. He is now a very good an announcer for the Minnesota Twins and you could tell that he was really hurt as year-after-year went by and he kept getting passed over. I think the class of players overall for this season is very weak, so that certainly helped his case.
   
   You can really see how players who were proven or suspected to have taken PEDs, such as McGwire and Palmeiro were penalized. It will be interesting to see what happens with Barry Bonds once he becomes eligible because he had a Hall of Fame career before he allegedly started taking PEDs. But then again, he is one of the most hated athletes through the media's eyes in recent history. It will be interesting to see how that gets handled.

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   1. 64

      I am DB Cooperposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I actually thought it was a fairly strong class compared to some in recent years. Alomar was seen as a sure-thing, and everyone felt that last year he was just being punished for the spitting incident. The vote totals for this year make it appear that this was the case. Blyleven should have been in 10 years ago and I don't consider a marginal Hall of Famer, unlike many who get in with only a couple years left on the ballot (such as Jim Rice). Barry Larkin missed the cut despite being comparable to Alomar, which I find strange. I guess Alomar's reputation at second base helps him out, even though many fielding metrics have Larkin as a better SS than Alomar was a 2B.
      
      I expect several guys who didn't make it this year to get in eventually. Excluding the suspected PED players, my list of eventual HOFers on this ballot include Tim Raines, Larry Walker, and Fred McGriff. Alan Trammell could have a chance if voters ever get their heads out of their you-know-where. He was a well above-average hitter and perhaps the most underrated shortstop of his generation. +7.5 defensive wins above replacement is excellent, and he probably deserved more than the 4 Gold Gloves he was awarded. His teammate on the other side of second base, Lou Whitaker, was a one-and-done candidate on the ballot who I think many years from now will get selected by the Veterans Committee. For a guy who was completely overlooked by the writers, his stats are incredible. There are many in the Hall of Fame right now who were not as good as Lou Whitaker. Mark my words, some day the Trammell-Whitaker double play combo will have plaques in Cooperstown.

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4. 64

   Greek Oneposted 13 years ago

   Way to go Robbie!  Thanks for the back to back championships!
   
   

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5. 59

   AskAshlie3433posted 13 years ago

   I agree. Blyleven deserved this many years ago. I am sure it was worth the wait for him. Hopefully, Larkin will be selected next year. DB is right, as usual. This was a strong class, much stronger then recent years. They both deserved it. That Blue Jay jersey never looked any better, than when it was worn by Alomar.

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6. 59

   optimus grimlockposted 13 years ago

   actually it looked better on joe carter

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