Lately I’ve been too busy with other priorities to have much in the way of ‘spare time’. MLB Spring Training is in full swing, and I haven’t even seen video highlights, let alone any games of my favorite team sport! The last time that I watched any sports was during the Olympics, over 3 weeks ago now. (Hopefully I can see at least part of an MLB game, if not a complete game, on TV tomorrow, or Spring Training might be transitioning to the regular season before I have the chance to see any baseball this year!) Heck, I’ve barely had time to read the news, and obviously I haven’t posted here at all this month. I need to change all of that, because I want to post more regularly, and would love to see more baseball.
I really love everything about baseball itself – not the business of it, but the plays, the history, and the nostalgia that goes with it. I ‘live’ for the All-Star Game, Hall of Fame weekend, and the World Series every year. The past few years, the special games have been about all I have had the chance to see of baseball during the year. Of course, what little I get to see of baseball, or read about, is from afar; I’ve not been to a game in person in at least 8 years.
Until today, I hadn’t thought much about baseball all year. This morning, I remembered that this year, 2010, was the first year of eligibility (for election into the MLB Hall of Fame (HOF)) for my all-time favorite player, Roberto “Robbie” Alomar. I’d totally forgot about the voting—some MLB fan I am!–and I’d not heard or read the results from January, so I went online and soon learned that Andre Dawson (with 420 of 539 votes) will be this year’s only player inducted. Robbie was only 8 votes (73.7%) short of 405 (75%) needed.
Of course I’m (more than mildly) disappointed that Robbie didn’t garner enough votes this year. I would *love* to know the rationale of the writers who did NOT vote for him. It’s not as if his stats are going to change next year, or any year after that. They are what they are from the first year of eligibility to the last. The fact that he was *so* close to being elected in his first year tells me that some of the writers vote on intangibles like character, or have the idea that no one is–or only a very select few are–‘worthy’ of election their first year on the ballot. If that’s the case, that’s just sad. The writers should be voting based on each player’s accomplishments within the game of baseball, not on any other criteria. No, I’m not going to talk about negative incidents with which Robbie has been involved. Those who know who Robbie is know what incidents they are; I don’t need to reiterate. Those incidents aside, Robbie is the reason that I love baseball so much (although my parents’—especially my mother’s—influence probably has much to do with it, too!). (See my next post for more.)
Anyone who has followed baseball for the last two decades should acknowledge Robbie’s talent and contributions to the game. He is sans doubt one of the best second basemen ever. He won a handful–maybe two–of gold gloves for that position. I loved watching him turn double plays—no one did it better!—and stealing bases. Maybe he didn’t hit that many home runs, but his overall batting average was better than many, and he could certainly hit and run! Robbie helped to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series wins (’92 & ’93), which was awesome, and he was part of the Tribe when the Indians won their fifth consecutive AL Central Division title (‘99).
When I think of Robbie playing, I remember the Blue Jays years, I remember the Indians years. All-Star Games in the 90s were the best, because he was part of them, partly because of MY vote each year! I thought it was *so* awesome that Robbie won the All-Star MVP award the year after his brother Sandy won it(!). Unfortunately, I only saw Robbie play in person a few times–once, maybe twice, in Baltimore (when he was with the Indians, I think), and once in NY when he was with the Mets–but I never got his autograph in person (although I have it on a couple of baseball cards) or had the chance to talk to him or shake his hand.
The only positive, for me, about Robbie not going to the Hall *this* year is that now I don’t need to worry about planning a trip to Cooperstown in July. I was disappointed that I couldn’t attend the induction ceremony in 2007 for Cal Ripken, Jr (my second-favorite player), and when I learned that Robbie would be eligible in 2010, I decided that I AM going to find a way to Cooperstown for HIS induction ceremony, whenever that is! If it’s not next year, then maybe in 2012. As soon as I learn that he is in, I’ll be making my travel arrangements, hopefully with my best friend, a fellow Robbie and MLB fan. I want to be there in person when Robbie is inducted as a Blue Jay into the most storied of all Halls of Fame.
