After weeks of hand-wringing over Jack Morris’ potential Hall of Fame candidacy, he didn’t even come close to earning a plaque in Cooperstown today when the inductees were unveiled. Rather, Bert Blyleven, in his 14th year of eligibility, and Roberto Alomar, in his second, are heading to the Hall. Blyleven, after intense campaigning by Rich Lederer, eked in with 79 percent of the vote while Alomar garnered 90 percent. “It’s been 14 years of praying and waiting,” Blyleven said to reporters today. “And thank the baseball writers of America for, I’m going to say, finally getting it right.”
Meanwhile, among those who missed their chance at enshrinement were Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, notable names and prolific hitters felled by steroid allegations. On the Yankee front, Don Mattingly garnered just 79 votes or 13.9 percent. He’ll stay on the ballot for another year, but Kevin Brown, who earned just 12 votes or 2.1 percent of the total, won’t. Only six writers voted for Tino for the Hall while one-time Yankee great Raul Mondesi earned a grand total of zero votes.
Finally, check out this ESPN NY post from long-time RAB reader Rebecca Glass. She argues that Bernie Williams could wind up making the most of a weak field next year when he’s first eligible for the Hall of Fame. Feared, I say. Feared.
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