Hall of Fame 2009

The Hall of Fame balloting went by so fast I nearly missed it.
Rickey Henderson, the All-Time stolen bases leader, made it in on the first try as expected.
But the big news is that former Boston Red Sox slugger Jim Rice made it in on his 15th and final try before being relegated to the old-timers ballot.
I’m thrilled for Rice and I’m sorry for Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven and Tim Raines, all of whom missed the mark yet again.
One sports writer thinks Dawson and Blyleven have a good shot of making it in over the next three years as there are not a lot of sure-thing players coming up for induction during that period. Blyleven, in particular, is the odd man out of the Hall right now being the 5th all-time strike out leader, whereas all the other All-Time strike out leaders from No. 1 to No. 16 are already enshrined. Blyleven just had the misfortune of playing most of his career for a bunch of losing teams which kept him just short of the magic 300 win mark.
Oh, but I can’t fail to mention that the Baseball Hall of Fame will continue to be a joke as long as All Time Hits Leader Pete Rose is left out for “crimes” he committed that had no impact on his playing career.