Henderson Gets Company in Hall of Fame Vote

January 12, 2009 - No big surprises came through in the voting announced today for the Baseball Hall of Fame, with swift outfielder Rickey Henderson inducted on his first try, while Jim Rice, the Boston leftfielder, gaining induction on his last, with 76.4% of the vote. But once again, Bert Blylevin was on the outside of Cooperstown, looking in, despite a stellar pitching career, albeit on average to poor teams for most of his career.

There was no doubt to the election of Henderson, the all-time leader in steals and runs scored. His 25 year career accumulated 331.490 PEVA Player Grade points, #27 All-Time among position players, averaging 13.260 per year, #94 All Time (among players with completed careers). Henderson had 3,055 hits and an OBP of 0.401. Jim Rice waited a long time for his induction, partially due to the debate over the length of his career and the fact that his accumulation stats were just below some important numbers; he hit 382 HR, not 400; he got 2,452 H, not 2,500. But the impressive part about Rice (224.084 PEVA, #93rd All-Time) was the fact that in his relatively short career, his per season averages were high (14.005 PEVA per year, #77 All-Time among player who have finished their careers). This is where Rice stands above some other players on the list with similar accumulation stats, including Andre Dawson and Dale Murphy. But Dawson, who's BBWAA percentage has now risen to 67.0, is a likely inductee in years to come.

Once again, however, the love for Bert fell short. Blylevin, with 287 wins, 242 complete games, and 3,701 strikeouts, came up just short with 62.7% of the ballots cast. Blylevin, in our opinion, should be in the Hall of Fame. He is getting left behind due to his 250 losses, due mostly to the ability of the teams he played on. With 271.050 Career PEVA Player Grade points, 21st among all pitchers, and a per year average of 12.320, there is no doubt, in the opinion of baseballevaluation.com, that Blylevin should be in. Will he? We think so, ... perhaps, like Rice, in the final years of his eligibility, or even from the Veterans Committee. Mark McGwire continues to languish, garnering few votes each year. The controversial slugger, mired in the question of performance enhancing substances, will likely be on the outside looking in, at least for the years to come. It is doubtful that he will see election on the writer's ballot. And we're fine with that. If performance enhancing substances were involved in McGwire's best seasons, it is doubtful that his statistics would elect him to the Hall of Fame. And for now, that is our criteria on a subjective basis. Without a pure objective basis to go on, that's the way we'd approach it.

2009 BBWAA Hall of Fame Voting
(Name, Vote, Percentage)
Rickey Henderson, 511, 94.8%
Jim Rice, 412, 76.4%
Andre Dawson, 361, 67.0%
Bert Blylevin, 338, 62.7%
Lee Smith, 240, 44.5%
Jack Morris, 237, 44.0%
Tommy John, 171, 31.7%
Tim Raines, 122, 22.6%
Mark McGwire, 118, 21.9%
Alan Trammell, 94, 17.4%
Dave Parker, 81, 15.0%
Don Mattingly, 64, 11.9%
Dale Murphy, 62, 11.5%
Harold Baines, 32, 5.9%
Mark Grace, 22, 4.1%
David Cone, 21, 3.9%
Matt Williams, 7, 1.3%
Mo Vaughn, 6, 1.1%
Jay Bell, 2, 0.4%
Jesse Orosco, 1, 0.2%
Ron Gant/Dan Plesac/Greg Vaughn, 0
Note: 75% needed for election

Hall of Fame 2009 Candidates - Position Players
(Name, Career PEVA Player Grade, Rank)
Rickey Henderson, 331.490 PEVA, #27 All-Time Batters
(13.260 per)
Mark McGwire, 261.187 PEVA, #53 (13.364 per)
Andre Dawson, 230.234 PEVA, #84 (10.964 per)
Dale Murphy, 228.943 PEVA, #85 (12.719 per)
Tim Raines, 226.257 PEVA, #88 (9.837 per)
Jim Rice, 224.084 PEVA, #93 (14.005 per)
Dave Parker, 202.394 PEVA, #126
Don Mattingly, 193.054 PEVA, #141
Alan Trammell, 189.326, #151
Harold Baines, 188.522 PEVA, #157
Mark Grace, 156.827 PEVA, #246
Matt Williams, 149.951, #269
Jay Bell, 135.350 PEVA, #320
Mo Vaughn, 132.140 PEVA, #333
Ron Gant, 117.848 PEVA, #433
Greg Vaughn, 118.489, #429

Hall of Fame 2009 Candidates - Pitchers
Bert Blylevin, 271.050 PEVA, #21 All-Time Pitchers
(12.320 per)
Jack Morris, 194.913 PEVA, #46 (10.829 per)
David Cone, 185.152 PEVA, #52 (10.891 per)
Tommy John, 182.842 PEVA, #56 (7.036 per)
Lee Smith, 113.816 PEVA, #179
Jesse Orosco, 77.010 PEVA, #401
Dan Plesac, 64.797 PEVA, #503

Career Best Baseball Pitcher List
Career Best Baseball Player List