ziggy, a couple baseball topics.

[jn]

I'm curious to know what you think of Bert Blyleven's continued exclusion from the Hall of Fame?  I just can't believe he hasn't made it.  Top five in strikeouts, pitched well in postseason, (at least in 87' with the Twins) durable, and the maybe the greatest curveball of all time.  I just don't see how the counter arguments (gave up a lot of home runs and didn't reach 300 wins) offset that.

Also I  thought I'd mention that a cow orker of mine just paid $200 for one of Rod Carew's 1977 game jerseys.  That was the year Carew one the MVP and flirted with .400.  Apparently it wasn't the only thing he flirted with since he bought it from a woman who had an affair with Rod. <_<   Without mentioning how he got it my cow orker managed to get Carew to sign it.  He's had it appraised at minimum $1500, maybe as much as $5000.  

[ziggy]

I believe Blyleven should be in the hall, and the reason he isn't are unsupportable.  As with many things people want to break things down to a few simple numbers that make decision making easy (wins, World Series, Cy Young's, MVP's, k's), but when doing so you don't see the whole picture.  That is what has happened to Blyleven.  His numbers

287 wins === 25th all time
3.31 ERA  === 10 seasons where he finished in the top 10 in the league
60 career shutouts  === 9th all time
3,701 strikeouts  === 5th all time, in league top 10 15 times
685 career starts  ===  9th all time
4 times in the top 7 in voting for the Cy Young
4,970 IP  ===  #13 all time

There are 4 different ways statisticians have tried to define lifetime achievement and for measurement for HOF induction.  They are called Black Ink (# times leading league), Gray Ink (# times in top 10), HoF standards, and Hall of Fame Monitor.  This is Blyleven's score

Black Ink: Pitching - 16 (128) (Average HOFer ~ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 239 (22) (Average HOFer ~ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 50.0 (36) (Average HOFer ~ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 120.5 (65) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Overall Rank in parentheses
He is a better than average hall of famer in 2, an average in 1 and below average in one.  The category he is below average is in times leading the league.  Since he played on poor to bad teams most of his career, it is difficult to lead the league in the premium categories of wins, ERA, shutouts, etc.

Compare him to some of his contemporaries (all in the hall)

Seaver is rated higher in all four
Palmer is higher in 2, similar in 1, lower in 1
Carlton is higher in all 4
Sutton is lower in two, similar in 1 and higher in 1
Jenkins is higher in 1, lower in 1, and similar in the other 2
Niekro is higher in 1, lower in 1, and similar in 2
Perry is higher in 3 lower in 1
Gibson is similar in 1, lower in 2 and higher in 1
Drysdale is higher in 2, lower in 2
Catfish Hunter is lower in 2, and simliar in 2

Roger Clemens - Substantially higher in all four.
Greg Maddux - Substantially higher in all 4

Of the 10 pitchers all time with the highest relative comparablity to Blyleven this is how they rank (1000 means they are identical)
Don Sutton (914) *
Gaylord Perry (909) *
Fergie Jenkins (890) *
Tommy John (889)
Robin Roberts (876) *
Tom Seaver (864) *
Jim Kaat (854)
Early Wynn (844) *
Phil Niekro (844) *
Steve Carlton (840) *

Only Kaat and Tommy John are NOT IN THE HALL.
Jack Morris is very similar to Blyleven, slightly lower in 2 and very similar in 2.  Morris is highly underrated all time, and also deserves to be in the Hall, but never will be.  He was a money pitcher, just like Blyleven.


I will post on a couple of others that I feel have been shafted.

[Joe Vancil]

Let's not forget that Blyleven was also on that '79 Pittsburgh team that won it all, as well.

And, plus, anyone who came up with a reason like the one he gave for not liking the idea of throwing home run balls back onto the field deserves to be in the Hall:  "I don't want my outfielders getting pelted with baseballs!"
 

[ziggy]

Another player who I believe has been shafted is Lou Whitaker.  When he first became eligible he received less than 5% of the votes, and it is necessary to get 7.5% to remain on the ballot, and to be considered for induction by the Veteran's committee.  Look at Lou's lifetime stats compared to a 1st ballot hall of fame second baseman in a similar era, Joe Morgan.

Category    Whitaker     Morgan
AB                8570           9277
Runs             1386           1650
AB/Run         6.20            5.62
Hits               2369           2570
Doubles         420              449
Triples           65                96
HR                244              268
RBI               1084           1137
SB                143              689
BB                1197           1865
BA                .276            .271
OBP              .363            .392
Slug %          .426            .427
OB+S%         .789           .819
Sac hits          180            147
Field %          .984           .981
League avg    .981           .977
Range factor   4.95           5.03
League avg     4.59           4.69

Whitaker was 5 time all star, 3 time gold glove, played on 1 world championship team, and was a member of the most prolific DP combo in history.  Yet he got 5% of the vote, and Joe Morgan was first ballot inductee, (75% +).  Maybe Whitaker shouldn't be in, but he should have at least made it to a second ballot if Joe Morgan, who I admit deserved to be in the hall, was a first ballot inductee.