Put these guys in Cooperstown, I say!
AT 2 p.m. today the world gets to see how wrong I am. Such is the beauty of baseball writing – everybody thinks they know more than the typist.
The Hall of Fame this afternoon will announce who made it to Cooperstown. It’s possible no one did, but according to my ballot, five players are deserving of baseball’s ultimate honor.
The first is a no-brainer, yet last year Goose Gossage got only 55.2 percent of the votes – 75 percent gets you in the front door. Gossage essentially invented the modern closer position – only back in the mid-70s it was called “the stopper,” and for good reason.
Gossage could be brought in at any time to stop the opponent from scoring. Many of his 310 saves were multiple-inning saves, a rarity today, and as he told me recently: “God couldn’t get out of some of the situations that I was brought into. Why was I brought in? Because I could get out of them.”
No. 2 was Jim Rice. Every year I vote for Rice, every year he doesn’t make the cut. Rice was the most feared hitter of his era, plain and simple. That gets you in the Hall. For those who have to have their daily statistical supplement: In 1978 Rice became the first AL hitter to total 400 bases since Joe DiMaggio did it in 1937. MVP Alex Rodriguez produced 369 total bases last year.
No one has passed the 400 mark in the AL since.
My third selection was a complete player, Andre Dawson. He was Rookie of the Year in 1977 and played all the way through 1996. He won eight Gold Gloves, was named to eight All-Star teams and also captured MVP honors in 1987. The Hawk could do it all. He totaled 318 steals and 438 home runs, back when every home run was a real home run.
It’s back to the pitching mound for my fourth choice, and Bert Blyleven will probably make it this time, in part, thanks to a vigorous campaign by a Web site called BertBelongs.com.
Two oversized postcards arrived in my mailbox in December and ordered me to vote for Bert, noting in bold letters: “You have another chance to put Bert Blyleven in The Hall of Fame. Don’t whiff.”
One went on to say: “Only five pitchers have struck out more than 3,700 batters. Two of them are in the Hall of Fame. Two of them will be. One of them should be.”
Those five are: Nolan Ryan (5,714), Roger Clemens (4,502), Randy Johnson (4,372), Steve Carlton (4,136) and our new best buddy, Blyleven (3,701). The card didn’t mention the next 10 men on the list are also in the Hall or will be. Add to all that Blyleven’s breaking ball was the best of his time, and you have one extremely successful mailing.
Jack Morris and Bruce Sutter remain under review. My last choice was Tommy John. He pitched 26 seasons, ranks 23rd on the all-time win list (288) and is sixth in games started and 17th in innings pitched. Longevity should count for something. He had the revolutionary elbow ligament surgery in 1974, now known as “Tommy John surgery.” John managed to win another 170 games with the rebuilt arm and post three 20-win seasons. That surgery changed the game.
All that is good enough for me.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com
