Terrific SI piece on Blyleven's HOF credentials
 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...l?eref=fromvlt

Can't agree more. Saw Blyleven on those dreadful teams he toiled for, and he was as good as anybody of his era. And I saw them all. Gibson, Marichel, Seaver, Ryan, Jenkins, Perry, Palmer, Carlton, etc..

It's criminal that Blyleven is continually excluded...

Well, as far as I know, a shutout is pretty much the best thing a pitcher can do for his team. And only eight pitchers in baseball history -- only THREE pitchers since the Deadball Era -- threw more shutouts than Bert Blyleven. Of course, all three of those pitchers -- Warren Spahn (three more shutouts), Ryan and Seaver (one more, as mentioned) -- were slam dunk, first ballot, no doubt Hall of Famers. In fact, as Rich Lederer has pointed out, every single one of the Top 20 shutout pitchers in baseball history are in the Hall of Fame... except Blyleven.

TOP 25 SHUTOUTS

Walter Johnson 110 1
Grover Alexander 90 2
Christy Mathewson 79 3
Cy Young 76 4
Eddie Plank 69 5
Warren Spahn 63 6
Nolan Ryan 61 7
Tom Seaver 61
Bert Blyleven 60 9
Don Sutton 58 10
Pud Galvin 57 11
Ed Walsh 57
Bob Gibson 56 13
Mordecai Brown 55 14
Steve Carlton 55
Jim Palmer 53 16
Gaylord Perry 53
Juan Marichal 52 18
Rube Waddell 50 19
Vic Willis 50
Don Drysdale 49 21
Fergie Jenkins 49
Luis Tiant 49
Early Wynn 49
Kid Nichols 48 25

I think he'll get in from the veteran's comm sometime in the future. He surely belongs.

he was excellent with the Pirates !

It is a travesty that Bert isn't in the Hall!! He had great stuff, and was always a competitor, even on the worst of teams.

If Phil Niekro & Don Sutton are in.....he surely belongs. So does Jim Kaat!

Another example of how most sports writers are lazy idiots.