There were five former Rangers on the ballot for the Hall of Fame this year, including Bert Blyleven, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, Kevin Brown, and Harold Baines. Blyleven was the only one to get in of that group, joining second baseman Roberto Alomar as this year's inductees.
Blyleven, who pitched before my time, was a Ranger in 1976 and 1977 and threw a no-hitter for Texas in '77. He won 287 games and was fifth on the all time strikeout list with 3,701, mainly because of his signature curveball. He was part of World Series winners in Pittsburgh and Minnesota, and also pitched for the Indians and Angels. He received 79.7% of the vote and finally got in on his 14th year of eligibility. He currently is a Twins television analyst and is famous for circling fans in the stands with his telestrator.
Rafael Palmeiro is still adament that he did not knowing use steroids at any time in his career, but he is being punished by voters for failing a performance enhancing drug test a few months after testifying against them on Capitol Hill. He is one of only four players to have 500 homeruns (569) and 3,000 hits (3,020) in his career, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray. Palmeiro, who was a Ranger from 1989-1993 and also 1999-2003, received 11% of the vote, which is far short of the 75% needed to get in, but enough to put him above the 5% mark needed to stay on the ballot another year. Raffy was one of my favorite players when I was a kid, and I still hold out hope that he's telling the truth and that one day he will get in. I know it's a long shot, and even if he's not lying, there's nothing he can do to convince voters that he's not. His autographed Rangers jersey still hangs in my house. I am proud to say I was at the game when he hit his 500th career homer. It will be interesting to see if he gets into the Rangers Hall of Fame, even if he never makes it into the one in Cooperstown.
Juan Gonzalez was another of my favorites as a kid, and he was a dominant force in the Rangers lineup for over a decade. He won MVP awards for the Rangers in 1996 and 1998, both divsional championship seasons. After he was traded to Detroit, his career started to fall apart, as he bounced around to Cleveland, Kansas City, and back to the Rangers. Over a career that spanned from 1989 to 2005, he hit .295, 434 homeruns, and 1,404 RBI, including an average of 117 RBI per year in the '90s. Juan also was accused of steriod use by former teammate Jose Canseco, but never failed a test. Just by looking at him, I'd say he was using before I'd accuse Raffy. Gonzalez barely made the cut for next year's ballot, getting only 5.2% of the vote. Back when he and Palmeiro were playing, it was easy to imagine their numbers retired next to each other in the Ballpark, but now there's doubt either will ever be honored in any fashion publicly with the Rangers again. Sad.
Kevin Brown was a hot-headed sinkerballer who won 20 games for the Rangers at one point, but made the most of his career elsewhere. He was a member of the 1997 Florida Marlins that won the World Series, and the 1998 San Diego Padres who lost to the Yankees that year. He cashed in on a $100+ million contract with the LA Dodgers, but began to break down soon after. Brown only got 2.1% of the vote and will not appear on any more ballots.
Harold Baines briefly played for Texas, and he is the answer to the trivia question, "Who did the Rangers trade Sammy Sosa for?" He didn't like it here and instead spent most of his career with the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles. He was primarily a designated hitter, which most Hall of Fame voters see as a deterent to get in. Even one of the best DH's of all time, Edgar Martinez, only got 32.9% of the vote this year. Baines' total was just 4.8%, meaning he barely missed the cut for next year's ballot, and he will not be a Hall of Famer.
So congratulations to Bert Blyleven for finally earning his deserved spot among baseball's best in Cooperstown. He joins other former Rangers Nolan Ryan, Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, and Goose Gossage in the Hall. Funny how a team considered to be an offensive powerhouse for so long still has not gotten a position player in the Hall of Fame yet. If it weren't for Palmeiro's alleged steroid use, he'd be the first. It looks like we'll have to wait for Pudge to retire and get in for that to happen, and even that might not be a slam dunk.
I'll leave you with this:
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