The Pecan Park Eagle

Bert Blyleven Likely to Finally Make it in 2011.

Jeff Bagwell (449 HR, among other things) gets his first shot at the Baseball Hall of Fame today. Bert Blyleven (287 Wins) probably finally gets his 75% vote total for election. And a whole lot of other arguably worthwhile candidates arrive for their first or umpteenth ballot check off from writers who may either hoist them to the Hall of Fame or leave them dangling in cruel suspension for years over everything from  questions of performance deservedness to the taint of suspicion about their use of steroids as active players.

In 2010, Mark McGwire (128 votes/23.7%) appeared on the ballot as the poster boy for steroid reputational delay of support. It’s likely that Big Mac will be joined in 2011 by Rafael Palmeiero and that these two men will be joined in limbo someday by Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens when both of these great ones also finally become eligible for consideration. It’s simply the dirty-business issue that won’t go away – and the stain of implicit blame could spread even broader, depending on voter memories of “Popeye-like” muscles that suddenly disappeared again in some players once their playing careers were all said and done.

Here’s how the ballot of top candidates looks as we await the results to be announced today. It’s likely that Bert Blyleven will finally make it through the golden door, but we will know for sure about that guess at 1:00 PM. Roberto Alomar could also make it in this time.  A player has to garner 75% of the vote total  for HOF election – and that is never as easy as it first looks. I’ve included the vote totals and percentage that each top candidate on the ballot in 2010 received. The list of new candidates follows in alphabetical order:

Returning Player Candidates (2010 Vote Totals/Vote %):

Andre Dawson (420/77.9%) – elected in 2010

Roberto Alomar (397/73.7%)

Jack Morris (282/52.3%)

Other Leading Candidates in 2011:

Along with Jeff Bagwell, Fred McGriff, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, John Olerud, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, and Larry Walker, among other notables, are also on the 2011 ballot for consideration.

Good luck to Jeff Bagwell on his first try!