The Baseball Writer's Association of America today voted Goose Gossage into the Hall of Fame. Gossage was the only player elected, two players with substantial ties to the Minnesota Twins, Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris, were left out.
The only real surprise here is that the baseball writers seem to be getting stingier and stingier when it comes to who they let in to the Hall of Fame. From the vantage point of a small-market, midwest fan, it would be easy to say it's all matter of whether or not you played in in New York, Boston, or L.A., but then Jim Rice and Tommy John didn't get in either.
From a Twins fan's perspective, Jack Morris should be in on the basis of his performance in game seven of the 1991 World Series alone. The rest of his record, as perhaps the best big-game pitcher of his generation, only backs-up the point.
Blyleven did better than Morris this year, along with Rice and Andre Dawson he was among the few to receive votes on over half the ballots. The case for Blyleven's inclusion is a good one, made particularly well a couple of years ago by the guys at Baseball Analysts. That Bert got votes on over 60% of the ballots means his vote totals keep going up every year. If that continues, Bert should eventually get in, and Twins fans will have good reason to celebrate.
Keywords: Bert Blyleven, Goose Gossage, Hall of Fame, Jack Morris, Jim Rice, Tommy John
