Free Bert Blyleven!
Don't worry, the 6-foot-3 native of Holland hasn't been seized by leftist guerrillas or anything. By most standards, Blyleven, who pitched 22 seasons for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians and California Angels and now broadcasts for the Twins, has led a charmed life.
But make no mistake, Blyleven resides in a kind of purgatory, that limbo of indisputably excellent ballplayers who, for whatever reason, never left strong impressions on the seamhead masses. This status - shared by compatriots such as Alan Trammell and Ron Santo - manifests in annual rejections by the keepers of baseball's Hall of Fame. The latest seems likely to come today, when the Hall of Fame announces the result of this year's balloting.
Jim Rice, Bruce Sutter and Andre Dawson seem to create more internal conflict for baseball writers (though it's very possible no one will get the requisite 75 percent of the vote), but for students of the game's statistics, Blyleven has emerged as the favorite cause.
A tide has risen behind the great curveballer, who received a mere 17 percent of the vote when first eligible in 1998 but ticked up to 40.8 percent last year. Supporters, led by a Minnesota advertising exec who helped Jesse Ventura get elected governor, have even created a Web site, BertBelongs.com.
Blyleven, like many of his peers, is acutely aware of his case. He has watched his name rise on the ballot and can tick off the wins, innings pitched and strikeout totals that comprise the best parts of his argument. He has read the material on BertBelongs.com and by another advocate, Rich Lederer at baseballanalysts.com.
"I think the Hall of Fame is about numbers, and if you look at mine, they're as good as anybody's," Blyleven said Friday.
His resume is superb.
Baseballreference.com has this terrific feature that lists the 10 most comparable careers to any player (a great way to waste two hours, by the way; would you have guessed the most statistically comparable player to Frank Robinson is Rafael Palmeiro?).
Anyway, eight of the 10 pitchers on Blyleven's list are in the Hall. The top three are Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton and Ferguson Jenkins, all guys who, like Blyleven, pitched well for a long time without ever having a transcendent season, a Bob Gibson in 1968 kind of affair.
Blyleven ranks 25th all time in wins, fifth all time in strikeouts and finished among the top 10 in ERA 10 times. He dusts many Hall of Famers in these categories.
