Roberto Alomar

On July 24, 2011 the greatest Toronto Blue Jays player ever (IMO) will be inducted in to the MLB Hall Of Fame...


Alomar in his early days...1988

 In 1985 the Toronto Blue Jays were lead by Manager Bobby Cox and a roster that included Jays greats like Bell, Barfield, Moseby, Upshaw, Whitt, Stieb and was owned by Labatts Breweries...that was the year that the Jays made their first ever trip to the postseason...it was also the first season of pro ball for Roberto Alomar...by the 1986 season Robbie was already winning minor league batting titles and was getting on the map as a big time prospect...this was all in the San Diego Padres organization, and Robbie made his MLB debut as a Padre in 1988...it was early in his career, but Alomar was already creating a rep as a slick fielding second baseman who had a flare for robbing hits, especially up the middle...

2 years later in 1990 Jays GM (and fellow 2010 Hall Of Fame inductee) Pat Gillick pulled the trigger on a trade that would alter the future of the Jays...out were fan favs Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff, and in was Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar (I remember a lot of initial criticism for Gillick making this move)...this was now a Jays team with a new home (Skydome having opened the season prior) and a new nucleus...hard to believe that Alomar played for 6 teams after his 5 year stint as a Jay, but it was his time spent north of the border that established him as a legit star, and a legit Hall Of Fame candidate...

In his career Robbie was a 12 time All Star including all 5 years with the Jays...10 time Gold Glove winner including all 5 years with the Jays...2 time World Series Champ and we know those were both with the Jays...Alomar's career #'s are Hall worthy... .300 career batting average (.307 as a Jay which is the Club record) - 2,724 hits - 210 HR's - 474 stolen bases (82% success rate as a Jay)  - despite usually hitting in the #2 slot in the batting order Robbie still amassed 1,134 RBI's...Robbie hit for average, pretty good power, drove in runs, scored runs, stole bases, even hit from both sides of the plate...pretty much the entire package...
 

Alomar strrreeetched out to rob a basehit - standard procedure for him

Of course all of that speaks to what a dynamic offensive threat Robbie was, but Alomar made his name on the defensive side of things...new and "modern" ways of evaluating defenders with advanced defensive metrics show that Alomar was actually not a very good defender...I call on you to ignore any of that and just recall your memories...there is no formula, no metrics, no info when it comes to your memories...can any stat on earth show you that Robbie was an average defender?!?!  I bet it can't...even looking at these advanced metrics I still cannot be swayed even slightly that Alomar was not as good as I ever saw at his position...but for me the real testament to Robbie's brilliance would be to ask any pitcher that took the mound with Robbie as his 2nd baseman and ask them if they literally thanked God again and again for the human vacuum at 2nd that protected them from base hits up the middle, that protected them from base hits sneaking into right field past the first baseman, that turned seemingly impossible double-play after double-play...sometimes stats tell the accurate story, every now and then stats do not do us any justice, and any stat that takes away from Robbie's D seems invalid to me as I know what I saw day-in/day-out for 5 years as a Jay, and years after that too
To be Inducted a player needs to recieve 75% of the votes tallied by the voters from the Baseball Writers' Association of America...in 2010 (Robbie's first year of Hall eligibility) Alomar recieved 73.65% of the 75% needed to get in...this year he recieved 90% (I still ask what the other 10% are smoking/thinking/doing)...As a Jays fan, and as a passionate baseball fan I remain outraged at the 2010 Induction votes that kept Robbie out 1 year...For any Hall Of Fame voter who left Alomar off the ballot last year shame on you...the consensus thinking is that this was a result of the spitting incident with Umpire John Hirshbeck in 1997...if so then I really say shame on you voters...A) why do you think it is your duty here to have some sort of moral stand on an incident that happened 13+ years ago?!?!  and B) is there anyone out there holding you to your mistakes of the past and not allowing well deserved honours to be bestowed to you?!?!  and furthermore C) have you done any research into the aftermath of that incident?!?!  Both men should be praised for the work and support each has done for the other persons charities over these 13+ years...a TON of good came out of that incident and to have so much good come from that is a testiment to both Alomar and Hirshbeck as friends, but really speaks to who they are as quality people...

Robbie celebrates after hitting THE HR

My fav Roberto Alomar moment is likely one we all have as a fav, or at least one we all remember fondly...October 11, 1992 Game 4 in the AL playoffs vs the Oakland A's...Jays lead the series 2-1 but the A's used a 5 run 3rd inning off Jack Morris to have a 6-1 lead going into the 8th inning...the Jays would rally for 3 runs in the 8th to make the score 6-4 Oakland...the 8th inning rally was snuffed out when the A's brought in the unhittable Dennis Eckersley and Eck struck out Ed Sprague to end the rally...Eck pumped his fist at Sprague and the Jays dugout...I have personally had Devon White, Rich Hacker (third base coach for that team) and Pat Hentgen tell me the story of that moment and I get shivers every time...they all speak about as complete calm and confidence the team had even as Eck was showing them up to end the top of the 8th...they all said the team grabbed their gloves and headed out to defend thebottom of the 8th, and to a man all were saying "we are going to get this guy"...the guy of course was Dennis Eckersley and the get came courtesy of Robbie's game-tying 2 run HR off of Eck in the 9th that sent the game to extra innings (the celebration pose at home plate as he watched the ball disappear into the right field bleechers  is pictured here, and is also the silhouette for his clothing line Second 2 None... http://www.second2nonewear.com/ )...the Jays would score in the 11th to win Game 4 with a 7-6 final and take a commanding 3-1 series lead...2 games later the Jays were in their first ever World Series and Robbie was a major part of that...thank you Robbie!

The MLB Hall Of Fame is the Hall Of Fame and as a Jays fan this year is particularly special as Gillick and Alomar will have the Induction Ceremony get a great Canadian feel to it



Robbie at the mic after Spencer's speech in St Marys

 Robbie was already inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall Of Fame (located in St Marys Ontario...BIG UP to St Marys Ontario!!!) and his Induction speech was written and given by Spencer Miller..Spencer is the host of the weekly sports show I am on called Sounding Offf with Spencer Miller (on thatchannel.com live every Thursday from 4-5pm or you can check the podcasts) and as a longtime Alomar friend he is also doing the Cooperstown speech which is awesome...

Finally there will be a Blue Jays player in Cooperstown and I am so proud and excited...CATCH THE TASTE!!!

craig.ballard@hotmail.com