Another TTM Success From Bert Blyleven

This 1980 Topps of Bert Blyleven was found in my partial set that I use for TTMs.  I thought the card was pretty sharp, and put it aside for a potential submission to the Hall of Famer. I finally pulled the money for his fee and sent the card off.  It looks pretty nice.  It kind of looks like Blyleven's signature is getting a little shaky.

I mailed to Blyleven on October 13 and got the card back on October 27 for a 14-day TAT. I paid his fee of $20.00.

Another TTM Success From Bert Blyleven

First off, while I'm not the biggest Panini fan, I have to say that I really enjoyed this year's Mosaic.  I pulled this 2021 Mosaic Vintage Bert Blyleven, and it pushed me to go ahead and pull some money and send off TTM to him, so I could get one of these signed.

I also went ahead and included the fee to cover this 1981 Topps, because I had it held in my box for quite a while.  I was glad to go ahead and get it knocked out; I enjoy the 1981 Topps set, and this is a nice card.

I mailed to Blyleven on January 12 and got the cards back on January 25, for a 13-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $20/card.  He included a sticky note with a smiley face.

TTM Success - Bert Blyleven

Because I am working on the 1987 set, I sent off to Bert Blyleven, since I saw he was signing, and he had a pretty reasonable price.  He was signing for $20.00, and the autograph turned out well.

Blyleven (b. 1951) played in the majors from 1970 to 1990 and 1992 for the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians and Angels.  He had a career record of 287-250 with 3,701 strike outs and a 3.31 ERA.  He was an All Star twice (1973 and 1985) and finished a career-best 3rd in the Cy Young voting (AL) twice, in 1984 and 1985.  His best MVP finish was 13th in 1989 (AL).  He won the World Series with the Pirates in 1979 and the Twins in 1987.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2011, his 14th ballot (79/7% of the vote).

I mailed to Blyleven on August 22 and got the card back on September 1, for a 10-day TAT.

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Bert Blyleven

Yes, you are reading the inscription correctly.  The ball, in fact, DOES say "I love to fart".  If you are easily offended, then this post is probably not for you.  I picked this baseball up off of Ebay (and it was on sale).  I had the auction page open and let my son practice his reading by reading the inscription.  He read it out loud like most first graders do "I... Love... To......" and he looked back at me as if to make sure it said what he was thinking it said "fart?"  I said "Yes, Chris, it says I love to fart."  He had just stuffed a swiss cake roll in his mouth, covered his mouth and said something that sounded like "That's hilarious."  I'm just glad he didn't choke on his swiss cake roll...

This ball definitely goes into my top two, as far as inscriptions go, right up there with my Pete Rose "Im sorry I bet on baseball".  It is pretty awesome, actually.  At least Blyleven is honest.  He has given interviews in the past about his love for flatulence.

I met Blyleven in person in 2010 at an Orioles-Twins game.  We spoke for a bit, but I didn't have time to get a baseball out and ask for an autograph.  He was really nice, but he didn't fart while we were talking.

Blyleven (b. 1951 in Zeist, Netherlands) played in the majors from 1970 to 1992 for the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians and Angels.  He had a career record of 287-250 with a 3.31 ERA and 3,701 strikeouts.  He won the World Series in 1979 with the Pirates and 1987 with the Twins.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2011 (his 14th year of eligibility) with 79.7% of the vote.  He is my 84th Hall of Fame signed baseball.

Meet the Hall of Fame Class of 2011

Congratulations to Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven on being elected to the Hall of Fame. This year was full of debate and intrigue. Now we turn our focus to February when pitchers and catchers report. Then, it will soon be time for the 2011 season to begin! I'm so excited!

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Thanks to everyone who commented on my Hall of Fame post. You may not agree with me, but that's the fun of it, we can all express our opinions in a friendly manner and learn more about the game while we are doing it.

My 2011 Hall of Fame Ballot

Tomorrow, we will find out who will complete the Hall of Fame class of 2011. Here is the complete ballot:

Roberto Alomar
Jeff Bagwell
Harold Baines
Bert Blyleven
Juan Gonzalez
Barry Larkin
Edgar Martinez
Tino Martinez
Don Mattingly
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Rafael Palmeiro
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Lee Smith
Alan Trammell
Larry Walker
John Olerud
Kevin Brown
B.J. Surhoff
Marquis Grissom
John Franco
Brett Boone
Al Leiter
Benito Santiago
Carlos Baerga
Raul Mondesi
Bobby Higginson
Charles Johnson
Kirk Reuter
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If I had a vote, which would be awesome, I would vote for the following (a 10-year tenured member of the Baseball Writer's Association of America receives a ballot on December 1 and must turn their ballot in on December 31. They are allowed to choose up to 10 candidates):
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Roberto Alomar - Probably the best second baseman of this era. He was a member of the 1992 and 1993 World Champion Blue Jays. To me, the spitting incident with umpire John Hirshbeck is a non-issue because he apologized a long time ago, was forgiven and the two are close friends now.
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Bert Blyleven - Some people close to me don't feel that Blyleven is a Hall of Famer because he doesn't compare to the likes of Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, etc... My thought is: You can't compare them because that would be like comparing apples to dinosaurs. At the time of his retirement, Blyleven was third all-time in strikeouts and ninth all-time in shutouts. Since then, he was passed by Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson. He won the World Series with the Pirates in 1979 (Pirates), and 1987 (Twins).
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Rafael Palmeiro - I explored Raffy's HOF candidacy here.
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Jeff Bagwell - Jeff Bagwell played in the Steroid Era. Jeff Bagwell deflated at the end of his career. Do I believe Jeff Bagwell did steroids? No, I do not. He never tested positive and has never been linked in any way that I have seen. It is completely unfair, given the evidence that we have today to label Bagwell as a 'user.' So what that he deflated at the end of his career. He had an arthritic shoulder that made it impossible for him to work out. Just because there were 'whispers' isn't enough for me to keep him out. He was one of the best first basemen out there during his career. He won the 1994 NL MVP, had 449 career home runs, 2,314 hits and hit .297 lifetime. In my opinion, he's a lock.
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Jack Morris - I have a friend who is a huge Jack Morris fan and he doesn't believe that Morris should gain entry into the Hall of Fame. My argument is this: If Bert Blyleven gets into the Hall of Fame, then Jack Morris should as well. They are very similar pitchers, albeit, Blyleven pitched for more seasons. Something that I feel gets forgotten is that Morris was 'lights out' in the postseason. He led the 1984 Tigers, 1991 Twins and 1992 Blue Jays to victories in the World Series. No other pitcher had more wins in the 1980s than Morris. That has to speak for something. He never won a Cy Young award, but I'm not too worried about that. If I had to pick a starting pitcher in his prime to start a World Series game for me, I would have no problem picking Morris.
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Fred McGriff - 493 home runs is hard to argue with. Like Jeff Bagwell, mentioned above, McGriff was never linked to any steroid suspicion that I am aware of. Based on that, McGriff's numbers stand out more than ever. He was a bona-fide leader on many of the Braves teams of the 1990's that perennially made the playoffs. He helped the Braves win the championship in 1995. McGriff is definitely worthy of election to the Hall and will get in sooner than later.
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Dave Parker - Much like McGriff, Parker's numbers should see a boost now, since writers are re-considering past players who did not play in the Steroid Era or were not linked in any way to performance enhancing drugs. So, why, then is the 1978 NL MVP, 2-time batting champ (1977 and 1978) and 2-time World Series winner (1979 - Pirates and 1989 - A's) not enshrined? He has 2,712 career hits, 339 career home runs and .290 batting average. What's the deal? The issue? Parker's cocaine abuse. Ouch. Imagine how amazing Parker's numbers would have been if Parker was not addicted to the drug in the early 1980's. Wow. We are living in a forgiving society, and with the current success of recovering addict Josh Hamilton, I believe it is time to give Parker his due.
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So, there you have it. My Choices for the 2011 Hall of Fame - Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven, Rafael Palmeiro, Jeff Bagwell, Jack Morris, Fred McGriff and Dave Parker. I resisted my initial urge to include Harold Baines, who was a good player who would have 3,000 hits if he had not been traded from Chicago twice. I also do not believe Barry Larkin is a Hall of Famer, even though most people do. There are a few who I believe deserve some consideration (Mattingly, Trammell), but I did not feel like they should at this time. Feel free to disagree with me, which I know many of you do, but I assure you that i took this seriously.
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I also don't believe in turning in a blank ballot. That's complete horesh*t. Baseball writers, you have the privilege to vote, use it. Just because Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb didn't get in unanimously doesn't mean you should be stupid and turn in a blank ballot. Your vote should be taken away and given to someone who deserves it. Ok, I'm off of my soapbox. I hope you guys enjoyed the read.

A Busy Day

Whew. I packed so much into yesterday, its hard for me to believe everything I did. Add that to everything I have done on this trip and it seems like I worked my tail off on this trip... and it's supposed to be my vacation.

First things first, to my surprise, the Orioles activated Brian Roberts before the start of yesterdays game. That was really awesome, so, now I can say I was at the game that turned the Orioles season around. I really feel like Roberts' absence from the lineup is one of the main culprits for the disaster which has been the 2010 Orioles season.
Roberts went 0-4 in his return, but he worked the count in all of his plate appearances. Something the O's hitters didn't do in the 5-0 loss the day before.

I acheived one of the goals I set out on when I left Greenville, and that was to meet MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko. I have followed Roch since he was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. Now, he reports and blogs for MASNSports.com. I read his blog daily, and it is the best source for Orioles news.

I met up with Roch at the press box and talked O's baseball with him for a good 20 minutes. He was really gracious to let me intrude in his daily routine. We talked everything from Roberts' return to Nolan Reimold to minor league ballparks. This was a huge highlight in my trip.

We also did the Camden Yards tour. I did the tour once before in 2005, but we had time to kill and decided that for $9 it was well worth it. Boy, was I right...

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There wasn't time for a photo op and I had my baseballs and pen buried in my backpack, so when we walked by the radio booths and saw Bert Blyleven standing there, I wasn't able to get an auto or picture. It didn't matter, though, I shook his hand, told him he should be in the hall of fame. He asked me my name and where I was from. He was really nice. I wish I had been able to at least get a pic with him, but I realized he was busy. He thanked me for stopping by, and we continued on our tour.

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Just being able to say I met and shook hands with Bert Blyleven is really cool.

I can now say that I have met and shook hands with: Brooks Robinson, Bert Blyleven, Chris Hoiles, Tippy Martinez, Nolan Reimold, Brandon Waring and Brandon Snyder. Each of those guys was really cool and stopped long enough for me to have a brief conversation with them.

I will post about the game itself when we get home later today, but the Orioles actually did win, which was so cool. I almost forgot how a win in person felt.

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After the game, we waited be the parking lot to try one final time to get Jim Thome's autograph. While we were waiting, Brian Matusz came out, I spoke to him for a second, but he said he didn't have time to sign right now. Then, Thome and Mauer came out together. I was unable to get Thome to sign, either. Dang. Oh well. I did get John 'T-Bone' Shelby, only after he complained about it. Someone later told me that he always complains to give fans a hard time, and usually doesn't sign. Well, he signed my ball, so I guess its a win for me. Its not like I harrassed the guy.

I had an awesome time on this trip and accomplished all but one of my goals (getting Thome to sign). I would say I was really successful.

Picked Up Some 1971 Topps

I have a friend of mine from Charlotte visiting Greenville for the first time, so one of the first things I did with him was take him to the card shop here. We didn't plan on staying long, that is until the torrential downpour came. So, we stood and talked to the shop owner, looked through some stuff and talked some more.

We discussed how the Stephen Strasburg mania was getting on our nerves in that you can't find any new stuff to open. I won't be able to do Allen & Ginter this year mainly because the prices are already shooting up. We talked about how I had just started my 1971 set, and the shop owner pulled out a bunch of card pages of 1970-1972s he had just bought off of somebody.

I grabbed over 100 1971's I needed for my set, which was a big chunk. The biggest card/name I got was this Bert Blyleven RC.
I still need the Garvey RC, but it was nice to get the Blyleven out of the way. A lot of what I found were higher numbers, so I think I got a pretty good deal.

Hall of Fame Thoughts

Andre Dawson got in the Hall of Fame. Good for him. I figured he would at some point.

This blog is not about 'The Hawk.'

I was very surprised that Roberto Alomar didn't get in. Enough that I said WOW out loud at work while listening to the broadcast.

I can understand someone being upset about 'The Spitting Incident.' Being an O's fan, trust me, I know all about it. If John Hirshbeck can forgive Alomar and move on (they are friends now by the way), then I believe the spitting incident becomes a non issue.

My real problem is with the Hall of Fame voting process. There are a few arguments I am sick of hearing. I will break them down for you.

No one should be a unanimous choice
That's crap. I'm sorry someone back in the day was so stupid that they did not cast a vote for Babr Ruth, Lou Gehrig, or Walter Johnson. For Bert Blyleven to miss by 5 votes and 5 jabronis submitted blank ballots really causes one to step back and think.

I have heard the argument made in years past that these guys submit blank ballots because they feel that since some of those I mentioned above were not unanimous choices, then no one should be. I'm sorry, but leaving Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Nolan Ryan, George Brett, etc etc off a ballot is just nuts to me. Those 5 guys need their PRIVILEDGE to vote taken away. Rescinded. Buh bye.

[Insert Name Here] is not a 'first ballot' Hall of Famer
Another load of crap. Ok, now, if you think about all the 'first ballot' Hall of Famers, man, those are some impressive names. Did you know that Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio were not? I didn't until it was mentioned in an article yesterday.

If someone is a Hall of Famer, they are a Hall of Famer on their first ballot or their fifteenth ballot. Granted, some have taken some time to get in, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage and Jim Rice come to mind.

I think Gossage and Sutter took so long because the voters had to weigh the impact they had on the game for some time, because those two pretty much revolutionized a new position, the role of the relief pitcher.

Rice retired right at the supposed beginning of the 'Steroid Era,' so in theory (my theory at least) is that had there not been a steroid era, he may have gotten more attention right when he became eligible (while McGwire and Sosa were smashing the HR record, etc). His numbers would have stacked up a lot better.

The Hall of Very Good?
Now, I'm not one of those that is all like 'Ohhhhhh nooooo I done gone and stung myself...' no, wait... 'Ohhhh nooooo, too many people are in the Hall of Fame... blah blah blah.' This is a very touchy subject and can cause good friends to hit each other with chairs, but here are my thoughts. No chair throwing please, just friendly debate.

The veterans committee selection process was so effed up for so long, pretty much anyone could get in. I think I heard a quote from Ted Williams (I think it was) one time about how the votes used to go down, for real. He said: It was a bunch of old men sitting around, ready to go to lunch. Someone said 'Hey what about that catcher who caught all those knucleballers?' 'Oh yeah, him... yeah he's in, lets go eat...'

I know all you Yankee fans love Phil Rizzuto. He should be in as a broadcaster. Because some sleepy old man put him in via veterans committee, now I have to be intoxicated to be able to tell myself I can afford his baseball card on ebay? Really? (another story for another day). His numbers don't stack up man. Good ballplayer. Not a Hall of Famer (in my humble opinion). Don't worry Yankee fans, I got a treat for you below.

Remember the old poem, Tinker to Evers to Chance? Yeah all 3 are in. All 3 were pretty much decent players, but Harold Baines has more career hits. He doesnt have a poem written about him. Sorry Harold, you gotta buy a ticket to get in buddy.

If Pete Rose isn't in, then [Insert Name Here] shouldn't get in
All-time hits leader not in. Fair enough argument. I think he should be. HOWEVER. Pete Rose signed an agreement that he would be banned from baseball for life. He did that. Sucks for him. Now, I'm all for time heals all wounds. I don't think a lifetime ban for anything is good. Times change, people change, etc etc. Pete Rose is not a saint. He profitted off of everything that happened after 1989. I do think he should be in there solely based on his accomplishments on the field. Character is part of the criteria one looks at when casting their vote. I've never been the greatest judge of character, so what do I know. I do know he was a hell of a player.

I also know that 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson should get in. Wouldn't matter much as he has no living relatives. The details behind the Black Sox scandal are so sketchy, I don't know if you really should hold him out because of it. Disagree with me if you want, but its my blog hahaha.

Its all about the numbers baby
Don Mattingly (see what I'm doing here?). You guys take note. I'm about to say something positive about a New York Yankee. Two of them actually. I think a Hall of Famer should be one of the best players of their generation. Donnie Baseball should be in the Hall. Once again, disagree if you please (and I do welcome the comments), but he was one of the best players of his era. He doesn't have prototypical 1st baseman numbers. He doesn't have World Series rings. He may have played one too many seasons. However, it is the Hall of Fame, and yes, Don Mattingly was one of the more 'famous' players of his generation. His numbers are very similar to Kirby Puckett. Mattingly has an MVP award. He should get in (and probably will at some point). Thurman Munson should too. Had he not gotten on that plane, he would (presumably) have had a pretty great career. He also had rings :)

The fans should vote
Oh hell no. Absolutely not. Fans (common fans, mind you) are stupid. Take the All Star vote. [insert random Yankee or Red Sox player here] gets in when clearly another player on another team outside of Boston or NY (where baseball doesn't exist, accoring to the 4-letter network) deserves it. I've seen that too many times. Fans will be voting in Jorge Posada or David Ortiz or JD Drew, etc left and right. Scary thought.

Does that make me a hypocrite? A troglodite? I don't even know what that means. No. The whole point of my rant here is this:

The Hall of Fame voting process is broken. Do I know how to fix it? Nope. I'm not an engineer. What it does do is create an endless amount of material for people to blog about, or to stand around a counter at a card shop and discuss in a friendly manner. No chair-throwing please.

If I had a vote...

Since the Hall of Fame vote comes out today, I thought I would toss out a question... If you had a vote, who would you vote for? I think the writers can vote for 5 players on the ballot. Here is what my ballot would look like:

Rickey Henderson (Can't wait to hear his speech... 'Rickey is the greatest of all time and now Rickey is in the hall of fame...')
Jim Rice (Come on, he should have been in a long time ago)
Bert Blyleven (How is he not in yet)
Andre Dawson (Former MVP on a last place team, great hitter, played on bad knees almost his whole career)
Harold Baines (Has almost 3,000 hits. If he had not been traded from the White Sox twice, into platoon situations, he would have had 3,000. Plus, he was a great player for a long time.)
Honorable Mention:

Tim 'Rock' Raines
Jack Morris
Don Mattingly
Mark Grace
Tommy John
Dave Parker
Lee Smith

Mark McGwire may not ever get in. I think that he was a one-dimensional player, but was the biggest star in the game and that should make a difference. Me, personally, I think he should get in eventually.