COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. � The fans and family members furiously waved their Puerto Rican flags Sunday in honor of second baseman Roberto Alomar.
By Mike Groll, AP
Pat Gillick, left, Roberto Alomar, center, and Bert Blyleven hold their plaques after their induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
By Mike Groll, AP
Pat Gillick, left, Roberto Alomar, center, and Bert Blyleven hold their plaques after their induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Minnesota Twins chanted, "Circle me, Bert," to pitcher Bert Blyleven.
And the Blue Jays fans' cheered every time Pat Gillick talked about Canadian pride and winning back-to-to-back World Series championships in Toronto.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony ? for the first time in years, and perhaps last time in awhile ? focused on nothing more than baseball.
There was no talks of steroids. No mention of the recent trials of Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds. The debate on whether Peter Rose should be in the Hall of Fame didn't even come up.
"It was just a beautiful weekend," said Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams says. "Baseball, just baseball."
In addition to focusing on Alomar, Blyleven and Gillick, Hall of Famers and others in attedance talked of those honored here who died in the past year ?Sparky Anderson, Bob Feller, Duke Snider, Dick Williams and Harmon Killebrew.
"This is the first time I've come back where there have been so many people that have died," Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton says. "It's like there are huge holes in a family reunion."
They offered prayers for Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who's battling brain cancer. "Gary, keep battling the way that you always have," Blyleven said during his induction speech.
The ceremony also focused on family.
Roberto Alomar
Age: 43
Teams: San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays,
How he got here: 90% of vote in second year of eligibility
Key statistics: 12-time All-Star; most Gold Gloves (10) and second-most Silver
Slugger awards (10) of any second baseman; third-most games played by a second
baseman (2,320); two-time World Series champion; 1992 ALCS MVP; 1998 All-Star
Game MVP; career .300 batting average.
Notable: He is the son of All-Star infielder Sandy Alomar and younger
brother of All-Star catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. The Blue Jays will retire his No.
12 jersey after his Hall of Fame induction � the first time Toronto has
retired a jersey. He will be the third Puerto Rican in the Hall of Fame. He
was suspended for the first five games of the 1997 season after spitting in
umpire John Hirschbeck�s face in 1996. The two have since become friends,
and Hirschbeck said he was �very, very happy� after it was announced
Alomar earned induction to the Hall.
Bert Blyleven
Age: 60
Teams: Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland
Indians, California Angels
How he got here: 79.7% of vote in 14th year of eligibility
Key statistics: Fifth-most career strikeouts (3,701); ninth-most career
shutouts (60); 27th all time in wins (287); 2.47 ERA with 5-1 record in postseason;
two-time World Series champion; two-time All-Star.
Notable: His No. 28 jersey was retired by the Twins. He pitched a no-hitter
in 1977. He was five votes short of being elected to the Hall in 2010. In 1977,
he was part of the first four-team trade in baseball history. He was pitching
coach for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
Pat Gillick (executive)
Age: 73
Teams: General manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle
Mariners,
How he got here: Named on at least 75% of Veterans Committee members� ballots
-- Ryan Kartje
Alomar, the first son of a major leaguer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, opened his speech in Spanish and talked about his dad, Sandy, and brother, Sandy Jr., both former major leaguers. Roberto and Sandy Jr. actually played together at Class A Charleston (S.C.) at the beginning of their careers, sharing an apartment that had a bed and a couch.
"We said whoever had the best game, would get the bed," Sandy said. "I slept on the couch the whole year."
It was Sandy wiping tears from his face later when Roberto said, "We didn't win a championship together but we won this together. And this is a big one. In my heart, you are a Hall of Famer."
Blyleven, teammates with Sandy Sr., in Texas, remembers the young Alomar boys playing in the clubhouse with his son. It brought back memories of his early days as a major leaguer.
Blyleven, called up to the Twins as a 19-year-old in 1970, was instructed in a telegram to report immediately to manager Bill Rigney. So when he arrived at the team hotel in Boston at 2 a.m., Blyleven went straight to Rigney's room to wake him.
Rigney, wanting to share Blyleven's naivety, told him: "I want you go to all of your teammates' rooms now and tell them that you're here and get back to me."
Blyleven reported back to Rigney at 3:30 a.m. When Rigney asked whether Blyleven said hello to everybody, Blyleven said, "I tried. But nobody was in yet."
NOTES: They were discreetly texting on their smartphones, sneaking away to take phone calls and whispering to each another.
With the trade deadline approaching, this is one of the busiest times of the year for baseball general managers and scouts, but they did find time Sunday to honor two of the most respected executives in the game.
Pat Gillick, former GM of the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies, became the fourth executive inducted into the Hall of Fame, and longtime executive Roland Hemond received the Buck O'Neil Award.
"This was my first time here, and probably my last," said Phillies scout Gordon Lakey, who has worked with Gillick for 28 years. "The best testament Pat is that here we are, in the heart of the trade season."
It was the biggest influx of executives to attend an induction ceremony, Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson said.
In addition to celebrating his career, Gillick, 73, fielded questions about his future. A special assistant for the Phillies, he denied Sunday that he was interested in becoming the Chicago Cubs general manager.
"I wouldn't be interested in being a GM," he said. "If there was a possiblity of a presidency or something like that, then I'd take a look at it."
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