Just curious? Why do some you think Bert Blyleven deserves to be in the hall of fame?

Question

His numbers are mediocre at best. He was never dominate let alone great at any point in his career.

None of the 5 teams he played for thought he was worthy enough to retire his number. Hint hint.

Yes, I know he has 3,701 k's. But that was over "22" years!
They don't put you in the hall for longevity.

I don't think he belong in the hall either.

Gene H are you kidding? It's funny how you left out the 250 games he lost! Mediocre at best like I said.

He had 22 years to gather a bunch of unimpressive numbers and unlike you the voters see that.

Chipmaker? What great season did he have? 20-17? Ha! Two seasons of
going 19-7 and 17-5 don't make a guy worthy of the hall.

Answer 1

I see his numbers and I hear the arguments but he doesn't quite do it for me either. Take a look at the attached and see if that changes your mind. He is borderline and it could go either way. Keep in mind that Tommy John also had 288 wins and he is not in the HOF.

Answer 2

I really must ask how you came to your conclusion ??
how old are you ??
have you or did you ever see him pitch ??
when pitchers curve balls were compared they compared them to one man Mr. Bert Blyleven
Well really nothing to argue about, just compare this man with other Hall of Famers for yourself, with whom he is compared mostly would be none other then Don Drysdale and Don Sutton. i suppose these men don't warrant entrance into Cooperstown either ??
You say he never won a Cy Young award, but he did finish 3rd twice.
The man was 19 - 2 in 1984 with the lowly Cleveland Indians who had a sub .500 percentage with a 75 - 87 record. for goodness sake he had 25 percent of there wins LOL
He won World Series Hard Ware with the Pirates in 79' and again in 87' with the Twins.
and guess who the top Pitcher on those two teams was ??
yeah that right good ole Mr. Blyleven.

Imagine if Bert could have had back his 82' , 90, 91 and 92 seasons back and played for a competing team instead of those Angels who went 72 - 90 in 92' we wouldn't be having this debate and the only son born in Holland to play in the Major Leagues would already be in the Hall of Fame.

Answer 3

Let's compare Blyleven's career stats with Nolan Ryan's:

W/L/ERA - Ryan 324-292 3.19, Blyleven 287-250 3.31
a statistical wash

CG/SH - Ryan 222/61, Blyleven 242/60
a statistical wash

BB/SO/WP - Ryan 2795/5714/277, Blyleven 1322/3701/114
Ryan has more than twice as many walks and wild pitches. Advantage Blyleven

HR Allowed - Ryan 321, Blyleven 430
Advantage Ryan

WHIP - Ryan 1.247, Blyleven 1.198
a statistical wash

Postseason - Ryan 2-4 3.07, Blyleven 4-1 2.47
Advantage Blyleven

What BBWAA remembers: Ryan 7 no-hitters, blazing fastball, Blyleven You mean he threw a no-hitter, too?????

If I had to use Nolan Ryan as a poster child for entry into the Hall of Fame, Blyleven wouldn't be too far behind.

Answer 4

Note, I pay more attention to seasonal performances than to career summary numbers. That Blyleven didn't reach 300 wins doesn't matter to me, though yes, if he had, he would have a plaque by now.

Bert had several great seasons and a bunch of very good ones. That, to me, is the sort of performance that deserves lasting recognition, at the supreme level that the Hall is intended to bestow.

The endless and misguided comparisons to Kaat and John are worthless; aside from the historical coincidence that they all ended up with similar wins totals, they are different pitchers and different types of pitchers, and Blyleven clearly stands above the other two.

I'd vote for Blyleven.

I would not vote for Kaat or John.

I would vote for Dr. Frank Jobe, though. What he pioneered with John has transformed the landscape of sports medicine and, therefore, baseball, and transformed it in very positive ways.

Answer 5

Are you serious? Blylevin, had a TON of strikeouts like you said, he was the best pitcher in Twins history, other then there modern day guys of course. I mean you deserve a HoF spot IF you totally control a pitching staff over the course of an entire career and thats exactly what he did for the Twinkies.

He had 60 Career Shut Outs and 287 career wins. Thats like 6th all-time for a left handed pitcher! The guy was a PIMP!

Answer 6

You're looking at the kiddie-pool stats. Sure at his peak he was never really considered the best pitcher in the game, but that should be only one consideration. Longevity is also a reason, so you're wrong there too.

Average HOF SP:
PRAA: 239
PRAR: 1002
WARP3: 97
PEAK: 44.9
WPWT: 70.9
PKPCT: 46.3

Blyleven:
PRAA: 311
PRAR: 1408
WARP3: 135.8 (Almost 40 wins better than the average hall of famer! c'mon man wake up)
PEAK: 45.6
WPWT: 90.7
PKPCT: 33.6

So you can see the only place he falls short is his peak. Over his career he was heads and tails above the average HOF'er, let alone the average pitcher or even the best pitchers of his time.

Answer 7

MEDIOCRE???? 5th all time on the SO list? 288 wins? Mediocre? Playing for mostly sub-par teams??? Are you the son of a baseball writer??? The man was great!!! I can't understand why some guys can win over the women on the View and get in the hall while others kick baseball butt and are called 'mediocre'. Are you KIDDING???

Answer 8

Yes
Go Twins

Answer 9

yes, he does! he has the numbers. fool! it is clowns like you who know nothing about the sport! it is jerks like you who voted that CHEATER, BARRY BONDS ON TO ALL STAR TEAM!!