Bert Blyleven Elected to Hall of Fame

by John Sickels on Jan 5, 2026 2:30 PM EST

It is about time.

The historical and statistical case for Blyleven is obvious and doesn't need to be rehashed here. But his brief minor league career was interesting too. He was a third round pick in 1969, out of high school in Garden Grove, California. The Twins sent him to the Gulf Coast League for his professional introduction, where he pitched 32 innings with a 39/11 K/BB and a 2.81 ERA. His curveball was so impressive that they bumped him up to the Florida State League that August, where he made five starts with a 5-0 record and a 1.46 ERA, 41/14 K/BB in 37 innings.

Blyleven was so impressive in spring training in 1970 that he began the year in Triple-A at age 19, making seven starts with a 63/12 K/BB in 54 innings with a 2.54 ERA. He was promoted to Minnesota late in the spring, going 10-9, 3.18 with a 135/47 K/BB in 164 innings as 19 year old rookie. Aside from a handful of rehab outings 22 years later, he never saw the minors again. Not bad for a third round pick.

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They humped him?

by jackyz on Jan 5, 2026 2:41 PM EST via mobile reply actions

seeing John Heyman squirm while having to acknowledge him on MLB was nice.

i'm eager to see which of you is going to put his jacket down first so as to ensure the other’s dress doesn’t get wet. by craigws

by e-gus on Jan 5, 2026 2:59 PM EST reply actions

Congrats, John!

I know this matter has been near and dear to you.

by StickRat on Jan 5, 2026 3:01 PM EST reply actions

My question on the matter isn’t whether or not he deserved to be in the HOF ….but…

If the guy wasn’t considered a HOFer for the first 13 ballots, how is he then a HOFer on the 14th ballot?

The logic is completely off on this one, at least to me.

by MILBGM on Jan 5, 2026 3:14 PM EST reply actions

well the whole 'hall of famer but not first ballot hall of famer' is flawed.

it is what it is.

i'm eager to see which of you is going to put his jacket down first so as to ensure the other’s dress doesn’t get wet. by craigws

by e-gus on Jan 5, 2026 3:17 PM EST up reply actions

+99999

Congrats to Alomar and Blyleven. However, the whole voting process burns me. First, the writers have invented this imaginary honor/award of being first ballot worthy. Second, did Blyleven win anymore games or strike out anymore players over the past 19 years? Why was he only 14% worthy in his first year but nearly 80% worthy 14 years later? What makes a player suddenly good enough 20 years after retiring? I think you should be on the ballot for three years max (I’ll allow for the unlikely exception that 10+ guys are worthy in one year or you are allowed to give a player a 2nd consideration(.

by mg050369 on Jan 6, 2026 7:24 AM EST up reply actions

Ehh...

I don’t think it’s that they’ve invented an award. Rather, it’s just that it’s very hard for 75% of the writers to agree on a single player. A very small few writers think in terms of the first ballot, or unanimity, but for most, it’s a matter of building consensus. It’s not the prettiest process, but it’s been generally accurate (unless you want to get into the division between the HoF and a theoretical Hall of Merit.)

Blyleven might be the poster boy for sabermetrics enlightening the argument for a player’s induction, and it took about 14 years to get the word out that, beyond W-L record, a Hall of Fame caliber player wasn’t being inducted.

by GuyinNY on Jan 6, 2026 3:47 PM EST up reply actions

re:well the whole 'hall of famer but not first ballot hall of famer' is flawed.

Well I dont mind a couple going by and then him getting in, but 13???

In my mind either a guy is a HOFer or he isn’t.

by MILBGM on Jan 6, 2026 10:31 AM EST up reply actions

I have always found this argument ingenuous.

It is not a matter of the player becoming better with time. It is a matter of voters reconsidering their votes, recognizing factors they missed before. (It can also be related to the strength of the candidates in various years when a deserving candidate might be overlooked in the midst of more spectacular ones.) To me, the fact that vote totals change is a positive thing indicating the willingness of voters to change their minds to account for new insights or perspectives.

by bobr on Jan 6, 2026 6:57 AM EST up reply actions

I have always found this argument ingenuous.

I’m happy for him that he got in.

I just think the entire thing is flawed. I wouldn’t mind a few, maybe up to 5 years going by but when something like 15 years goes by and then he gets in, it just seems like the guy was felt sorry for and they finally put him in.

That sort of diminishes the whole thing for me.

by MILBGM on Jan 6, 2026 10:34 AM EST up reply actions

You can't undo an induction... that's the reason writers are conservative

There’s more years for the “con” case to be made as well. My hope is that they are trying to get it right.

Nobody is feeling sorry for anyone. If the fifteen years go by, there’s always the Vets Committee.

by DavidRF on Jan 6, 2026 10:36 AM EST up reply actions

+1

by GuyinNY on Jan 6, 2026 3:48 PM EST up reply actions

60 Shutouts

Bert B had 60 shutouts, ranking him 9th ALL-Time

Until today he wasn’t in the Hall of Fame and, the next 13 players on the All-Time shutout list were in. Out of the top 22, he was the only one not in the Hall - ’til now.

It’s about damned time! He was a better pitcher than niot “some” of the pitchers already in but more than half, in my opinion.

Mark McGwire getting left out because of politiacl nonsense is stupid as well. There are about maybe 10 people TOPS, who put runs on the scoreboard as much as Mark McGwire did. He was an all-time great player.

"If my uniform doesn't get dirty, I haven't done anything in the baseball game." - Rickey Henderson

by casejud on Jan 5, 2026 3:28 PM EST reply actions

according to this....there were 90 position players who were better....

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_bat_career.shtml

AND most of those havent admitted steroid use

Fire Everyone

by billybeingbilly on Jan 5, 2026 6:57 PM EST up reply actions

and 65 hitters on just batting value alone

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_off_career.shtml

Fire Everyone

by billybeingbilly on Jan 5, 2026 6:59 PM EST up reply actions

War is rotting your guy's brains out

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/onbase_plus_slugging_plus_career.shtml

Mark McGwire ranks 12th on this list surrounded in front and back by Hall of famers.

Even the list you show shows him as just as valuable as Roberto Alomar, who just got 90% . . . as well as Dave Winfield, Harmon Killebrew, Willie Stargel etc.

The list that has him as 65th “OFFENSIVELY” (in GIANT quotes is BS. You think that Barry Larkin put the same amount of runs on the scoreboard as Mark McGwire?? Comical, and I love Barry Larkin.

"If my uniform doesn't get dirty, I haven't done anything in the baseball game." - Rickey Henderson

by casejud on Jan 6, 2026 7:27 PM EST up reply actions

That's a rate stat

His career was not long and the competition at 1B is strong. “12th” is very misleading. Barry Larkin played shortstop. Some people like to have positional balance in the HOF. It can’t all be OF-1B-DH types.

That said, there’s other HOF-ers in McGwire’s WAR neighborhood and there are more than 90 position players in the HOF. Nothing inconsistent with voting FOR Mark McGwire based on WAR.

by DavidRF on Jan 7, 2026 9:59 AM EST up reply actions

Finally

Bert deserved this long overdue honor.

Dewey and KBR are just.......too........sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!

The Wolfpac is looking for new soldiers! Change your logo to the black and red!!!

by Dewey Finn on Jan 5, 2026 5:16 PM EST reply actions

Not a HOFer in my eyes

sorry guys but a guy who’s average year is 14-12 with a 3.31 ERA and 2 AS, 0 CY’s, and very few great seasons is not a HOFer. He should be in the hall of very good.

by Bravesin07 on Jan 5, 2026 6:04 PM EST reply actions

he was very good for a loooooooong time

Dewey and KBR are just.......too........sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!

The Wolfpac is looking for new soldiers! Change your logo to the black and red!!!

by Dewey Finn on Jan 5, 2026 6:06 PM EST up reply actions

This

I don’t really think of Blyleven as a “peak” candidate, and I tend to steer in that direction, but the Hall has definitely found a place for “career” guys, and Blyleven makes the cut on that list.

by GuyinNY on Jan 6, 2026 3:50 PM EST up reply actions

+1 for the snark

I almost thought you were serious for a second though.

by carverslacker on Jan 5, 2026 6:40 PM EST up reply actions

Well, actually, he is

If his name is Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Fergie Jenkins, Catfish Hunter, Jim Bunning, Robin Roberts, Red Ruffing, Ted Lyons, Waite Hoyt, Burleigh Grimes, etc.
Given that I’ve just named 16% of the starting pitchers in the Hall of Fame, I’m gonna go ahead and say your definition of HOFer and the Hall of Fame’s definition aren’t the same.

by realitypolice on Jan 6, 2026 11:33 AM EST up reply actions

I would have voted for Blyleven and I’m glad he got in because the numbers are great.

However, he didn’t really seem like a Hall of Famer at the time he was pitching. You figured your team would lose when someone like Greg Maddux or Randy Johnson came to town. I never had that feeling with Blyleven. That’s probably why it took 14 years.

by bolton on Jan 5, 2026 6:09 PM EST reply actions

Congrats to Alomar and Blyleven

Both are deserving and as a Jays fan I can say that he is the greatest Jay and second baseman I ever saw. He was truly a 5 tool player.

Dewey and KBR are just.......too........sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!

The Wolfpac is looking for new soldiers! Change your logo to the black and red!!!

by King Billy Royal on Jan 5, 2026 10:50 PM EST reply actions

Blyleven

40 starts and 25 complete games and 325 innings (and 20 wins) at age 23.

36 starts and 16 complete games and 271 innings (and 17 wins) at age 35.

I wonder how throwing 115 complete games before the age of 26 might have affected his peripheral numbers later in his career? Guy was a workhorse, but nobody is that immune - I’m guessing he was pitching at 80% through a LOT of those years in his 30s.

Thanks for 50 Great Years Bobby Cocks - (celebration cake from the US Senate)

by siddfynch on Jan 6, 2026 2:04 AM EST reply actions

I would guess he was pitching at 80% a lot more early in his career than later in it. The scoring environment in baseball changed drastically during Blyleven’s career. The days when pitchers didn’t have to exert themselves to get the bottom half of the order out were long gone by the time Bert retired.

by limozeen on Jan 6, 2026 4:08 AM EST up reply actions

Blyleven's 1973 Topps Card

I have a couple of them if my mother didn’t throw them out years ago. Hey ma!

Unfortunately I wasn’t collecting them much in 1970, so i don’t have his rookie card. All i can recall from then is a John Ellis card. But I had all of 1973, with lots of duplicates.

by wobatus on Jan 6, 2026 4:24 PM EST reply actions