Alomar voted to baseball's Hall of Fame

After coming painfully short in the voting a year ago, former Roberto Alomar got the news he wanted to hear Wednesday.

The former Toronto Blue Jays star infielder is headed to Cooperstown.

Alomar and Bert Blyleven were selected for induction into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Alomar, a 12-time all-star who helped lead the Blue Jays to World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, was picked on 90 per cent of the ballots. Blyleven was listed on 79.7 per cent, just ahead of the 75 per cent needed for election.

Sluggers Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jeff Bagwell and Juan Gonzalez came nowhere close. Hall voters, for now, seem intent to prevent the cloud of the Steroids Era from covering Cooperstown.

Alomar collected 2,724 hits, 210 homers, 1,134 RBIs, 1,508 runs and 474 steals in 2,379 games. The 10-time Gold Glover had a .300 career average over 17 seasons and was named ALCS MVP in 1992.

Alomar was named on 73.7 per cent of the ballots last year in his first try. Blyleven had come even closer, missing by just five votes while getting 74.2 per cent.

Alomar and Blyleven will be joined by Pat Gillick at the induction ceremonies July 24 in Cooperstown. The longtime executive was picked last month by the Veterans Committee. Gillick helped earn his place with a trade that brought Alomar to Toronto.

Smart and acrobatic on the field, Alomar also was guilty in one of the game's most boorish moments. He spit on umpire John Hirschbeck during a dispute in 1996 and was suspended. They later made up and Hirschbeck supported Alomar's bid for the Hall.

Alomar joins four other former Blue Jays at Cooperstown — Phil Niekro, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and Rickey Henderson — but none of them have the team's cap on their plaques. Alomar has the potential to be the first given that many of his best years came in Toronto.

Wicked curveball

Blyleven, known for his wicked curveball, had 287 wins, 3,701 strikeouts and 60 shutouts. This was his 14th time on the ballot and his career stats have got a boost in recent years by sabermetricians who have new ways to evaluate baseball numbers.

"It's been 14 years of praying and waiting," Blyleven said on a conference call. "I'd like to thank the Baseball Writers of America for, I'd like to say, finally getting it right."

Palmeiro, McGwire, Bagwell and Gonzalez fared poorly in the election, with voters apparently reluctant to choose bulky hitters who posted big numbers in the 1990s and 2000s.

"The writers are saying this was the steroids era, like they've kind of done for Mark McGwire," Blyleven said. "They've made their point. It doesn't surprise me."

Having a player inducted to the Hall as a Blue Jay is one of the few accomplishments the franchise is missing.

Alomar came to the Blue Jays in a transformational Dec. 5, 1990 trade with San Diego. The Blue Jays also got Joe Carter in the deal in exchange for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff.

Alomar instantly became an offensive catalyst for Toronto, gaining a reputation among his teammates as a player who could be counted on to deliver the big hit.

The biggest one of his career came in the ninth inning of Game 4 in the 1992 ALCS, and it turned out to be a pivotal moment in franchise history. Oakland closer Dennis Eckersley ended the eighth by striking out Ed Sprague with two runners on, pointed and shouted at him, and then stared down the Blue Jays dugout.

Devon White then led off the ninth with a single and Alomar followed with a game-tying, two-run homer. The Blue Jays won the game 7-6 in 11 innings, took the series in six games and went on to claim their first World Series title.

"We took it personal," Alomar recalled in a 2008 interview. "Everybody wanted to get him, we battled back and that home run was the biggest hit I ever had."

It was also especially meaningful for a franchise that had a history of near-misses in the post-season.

Huge hit

"That hit pretty much put us in the World Series for the first time," former teammate and current Blue Jays bullpen coach Pat Hentgen said last year. "The team had come so close in '85, '87, '89, '91 — what a run for the organization — and to get put over that hump, that was huge."

The election was quite a climb for Blyleven, who helped pitch Pittsburgh to the 1979 title and Minnesota to the 1987 crown. Many years ago, he drew barely over 14 per cent in the BBWAA voting.

"I could not be happier if it was my own son," Twins Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew said. "I played in the first game Bert pitched for the Minnesota Twins in 1970. ... I wish it wouldn't have taken so long but now that he is in, it's wonderful."

Palmeiro was listed on just 64 of a record 581 ballots (11 per cent) in his first try despite lofty career numbers -- he is joined by Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the lone players with more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

But Palmeiro failed a drug test and was suspended by Major League Baseball in 2005. The penalty came a few months after he wagged his finger at members of Congress and told them: "I have never used steroids. Period."

Palmeiro recently reiterated the anabolic steroid that caused his positive test came in a vitamin vial given to him by teammate Miguel Tejada.

Bagwell got 41.7 per cent in his first year on the ballot. His career stats are among the best for first basemen since the Second World War — .297 batting average, .408 on-base percentage and .540 slugging percentage. He hit 449 home runs, topped 1,500 RBIs and runs and ran the bases hard. He was Rookie of the Year, NL MVP and a Gold Glove winner.

Bagwell never tested positive, there were no public allegations against him and he was adamant that he never used illegal drugs. Still, many voters and fans aren't sure yet how to assess the big numbers put up by the game's biggest hitters.

McGwire got 19.8 per cent, a drop from 23.7 per cent last year. This was his fifth time on the ballot, and first since the former home run champion admitted he took steroids and human growth hormone.

Juan Gonzalez, a two-time AL MVP implicated by Jose Canseco in steroids use, received 30 votes, just above the 5.0 per cent threshold for remaining on the ballot next year.

Barry Larkin and Tim Raines showed gains in this year's voting. Pete Rose received three write-in votes.