The Blyleven Question

When you have a pitcher with close to 300 wins, multiple 20-win seasons, a few All-Star game appearances and a strong post-season record, you may expect him to reach the Hall of Fame, right?

Fans and baseball writers who support Bert Blyleven are essentially making that argument again this year, saying it’s time for the hurler to receive his place in baseball’s pantheon.

But wait….the person I’m describing in the opening paragraph isn’t Blyleven. It’s a different pitcher who was summarily dismissed by Hall voters, and who pitched in the same era as Blyleven, a player who in some ways has a stronger Hall case: Tommy John. Let’s look at some key numbers:

Blyleven: 287 wins, 3.31 career ERA, 2 All-Star games, 1 20-win season, 5 post-season victories

John: 288 wins, 3.34 career ERA, 4 All-Star games, 3 20-win seasons, 6 post-season victories

While a growing list of writers says it’s time to honor Blyleven, John never got more than 32% of the Hall of Fame vote in 15 years on the ballot--far short of the minimum for induction.

Of course, the two pitchers are different in one key respect. Blyleven was a right-hander with a lot of strikeouts. John earned one of the worst backhanded compliments you can offer: he was a “crafty lefthander.”

Blyleven’s fans sell the fact that his cachet was the strikeout. They’re right. But using that statistic is unfair to the vast majority of lefthanders this side of Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton.

From 1965, when John broke in as a regular, until 1992, when Blyleven retired, 17 different right-handers won strikeout titles in the major leagues. The list includes the cream of the era’s crop, including Hall of Famers like Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins and Phil Niekro, plus Roger Clemens and John Smoltz. The left-handers? Aside from Carlton, most titles were won by hard-throwing southpaws who flamed out long before Hall-worthiness, such as Sam McDowell and Mark Langston. No crafty southpaws in sight.

With 3,701 career strikeouts, Blyleven has the 3rd most of any right-handed pitcher. Third in career strikeouts among left-handers is….Mickey Lolich.

You can also argue that John, not Blyleven, had a far greater impact on the game. Faced with a career-ending injury in his early 30s, the lefty had the first ligament replacement surgery, now known as Tommy John surgery. At the time, the surgeon called it a “hundred to one shot.” It’s the doctor’s handiwork, of course, but 18 months of diligent rehab by John made it a success. Today the surgery is relatively common and has saved scores of careers.

Now Blyleven may deserve the Hall, but there’s a bit of unfairness here. Much like the Hall seems short of third basemen, it appears to have another weak spot with left-handers. Jim Kaat, a lefty who pitched in the same era, has much the same case as John. If Blyleven is elected this year, it means every eligible modern-era pitcher with 270 to 299 wins has made it to the Hall of Fame--except for the lefthanders.