Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were elected to Cooperstown today. No big surprises here. Congratulations to them both. I liked Blyleven when I first got into baseball, though he retired soon after. I was never a big fan of Alomar, I always liked his brother Sandy better, but my little brother was a huge fan.
As for the Red Sox showing, the three players who played in the Majors for them eligible on this year's ballot were Lee Smith, John Olerud, and Carlos Baerga.
Lee Smith finished fifth on the ballot, receiving 45.3% of the vote, well short of the required percentage, and he dropped a bit this year. This is his ninth year on the ballot, so six more years to try to climb. I just do not see it happening, not when Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera have both eclipsed his then-record saves total. Too bad.
John Olerud received only our votes and dropped off the ballot. I really think he was deserving of a closer look, although I am not surprised by this result.
Carlos Baerga did not receive any votes. That also did not surprise me.
Next year, Smith will be back on the ballot and Javy Lopez, Jeff Fassero, Carl Everett, Bill Mueller, and Mike Remlinger will be players who played with the Red Sox that are eligible to appear on the ballot. None of them stand a very good chance of surviving that first year either, with the possible exception of Lopez, the power-hitting catcher.
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