Baseball Hall of Fame: Andre Dawson the sole inductee for 2010 - ESPN

Baseball Hall of Fame: Andre Dawson the sole inductee for 2010

It was The Hawk's 9th time on the ballot.

Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar fell just short. 75% is required for induction, and they scored 74.2% and 73.7%. Nobody has ever come that close without eventually making it. Blyleven missed by five votes, Alomar by 8.

Edgar Martinez did not come close.

I'm not particularly sympathetic to Bert Blyleven's case, although he seems to be a sure bet for next year. I know he won 287 games and could pitch, but he spent 22 years in the majors and was selected to the all-star team only twice, in years when he went 17-16 and 20-17. If nobody thought he was one of the best ballplayers in his day, how can he now be one of the best of all time? Jimmy Key, for example, made four all-star teams and has a better adjusted ERA+. Dave Stieb made seven all-star teams and also has a better adjusted ERA+ than Blyleven. Those three guys were all good pitchers. But Hall of Fame?