Bert Blyleven is a candidate on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the 13th year. The Class of 2010, which includes manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey from the Veterans' Committee ballot, will be announced Jan. 6. You can watch the announcement live at 2 p.m. ET on an MLB Network simulcast on MLB.com.
For most people, the month of January symbolizes hope at the start of a new year.
For Bert Blyleven, the month symbolizes hope that his long wait to get into Cooperstown might finally be ending.
Blyleven is entering his 13th year on the Hall of Fame ballot and he is still searching for the one honor that is noticeably missing from his 22-year career.
There are many fans and baseball pundits alike who have wondered why Blyleven has yet to receive enshrinement in Cooperstown. In a career that spanned from 1970-92 with the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians and Angels, he's near the top of almost every all-time pitching category.
That includes 287 wins, which is 27th on the all-time list. Blyleven is fifth in career strikeouts with 3,701. He is 11th in games started with 685. His 60 shutouts are ninth all-time. And Blyleven also ranks 13th all-time in innings pitched with 4,970.
But despite the long list of accomplishments, Blyleven must sit back and wait again this January to see if his dream is finally realized.
Will it ever happen?
"I hope so one day," Blyleven said while serving as pitching coach for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic in March. "I have no control of that. It's up to the writers. Last year was my 12th year on the ballot. I have three more years. Hopefully that day will come.
There is reason for Blyleven to be optimistic in 2010.
A candidate must get 75 percent of the vote to gain election, and only Andre Dawson (67 percent) had more support last year among those not elected than Blyleven (62.7 percent). Closer Lee Smith (44.5 percent) is next on that list, and they're all joined on the ballot this year by a group of newcomers that includes All-Star second baseman Roberto Alomar, Reds superstar shortstop Barry Larkin and Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez.
Results of the election will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
The 62.7 percent showing in 2009 was Blyleven's highest vote total to date after he received 61.9 percent of the vote in 2008, which was a nearly 14-percent jump from 2007.
The increase in vote totals for Blyleven is encouraging in that it inches him closer to the 70-percent mark. Every player who has reached 70 percent of the vote has gone on to be subsequently elected. And since 1980, only four players have received more than 60 percent of the vote and did not eventually end up in the Hall of Fame.
"It's a nice positive in what I feel is a negative situation," Blyleven said after the ballot results were announced two years ago. "Because I still feel my numbers are Hall of Fame numbers."
Blyleven's candidacy has definitely been picking up steam over recent years. After receiving just 14 percent of the vote in 1999, his second year on the ballot, Blyleven's vote totals have jumped nearly every year.
While Blyleven appreciates the increased support he's received over the years, he doesn't quite understand what has changed.
"I don't know what the writers look at and why, all of a sudden, one year you don't vote for a guy and the next year you do," Blyleven said. "It seems I always find myself this time of year defending my numbers more than admiring them."
Those who haven't voted for Blyleven point to the pitcher lacking the benchmark achievements like 300 victories or a Cy Young Award that often equal an induction into the Hall. Blyleven had just one 20-win season during his career along with just two All-Star bids and no Cy Young Awards to his name. In the key categories -- strikeouts, wins and ERA -- Blyleven only once led his league in any of those stats, and that came in 1985 with the Twins, when he led the American League in strikeouts (206).
But those who played against him believe that Blyleven should already be in Cooperstown.
"The writers never had to face him," Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett said a few years ago about Blyleven. "If they did, they'd vote for him. He was as good as there was for a long time. Bert is up there with the toughest four or five guys I faced in my career."
Delayed entry into Cooperstown is nothing new. Like Rich "Goose" Gossage, who was inducted in 2008 in his ninth turn on the ballot, Tony Perez also spent nine years on the ballot before being selected in 2000. And Bruce Sutter was elected to the Hall in 2006 in his 13th year on the ballot.
A total of 14 Hall of Fame players have been on the ballot for at least 10 years before being voted in by the writers.
Historical perspective could have something to do with the change in opinion. It seems that the longer some players are on the ballot, the more their numbers seem to resonate with voters. Like Gossage, who earned 33.3 percent of the vote during his first year on the ballot in 2000, he watched his totals steadily increase over the following eight years.
Blyleven has three more tries to gain the votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, including the '10 ballot. And no matter if it takes until his final stint on the ballot, the hope remains for Blyleven that one day the long wait will pay off.
"I look at it as I only have three more years and I can't predict if a writer is going to change his vote," Blyleven said. "Why did Bruce Sutter get in after 13 years or Goose Gossage after nine? It's nice to see my numbers increase, but hopefully they'll just keep going up in a positive direction until I'm headed to Cooperstown."
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