Bert Blyleven Marquee Hall of Fame 2011

Born in Zeist, in the Netherlands, he reached the major leagues at nineteen and pitched twenty-two seasons for five clubs. He struck out 3,701 batters, fifth all-time, threw 60 shutouts, ninth, completed 242 starts and worked 4,970 innings. Nine of those shutouts came in 1973 alone, one of three seasons he led the American League in them.

The curveball was the pitch hitters talked about, a slow, deep break he would throw on any count. The wins did not follow it. He went 17-17 in 1972 with a 2.73 earned run average and 17-17 again in 1974 at 2.66. He finished 287-250, thirteen short of the round number that settles these arguments for other pitchers.

He was 10-17 in 1988 and then, at thirty-eight, went 17-5 for California and was named Comeback Player of the Year. His first Hall of Fame ballot, in 1998, gave him 83 votes of 473. Analysts spent a decade arguing his case in print, and the writers elected him in 2011, his fourteenth try, with 463 votes of 581.