Alomar enters Hall (won’t wear Mets hat)

He failed miserably when he arrived at Shea, but there should never have been any doubts that Robbie Alomar was going to the Hall of Fame. Alomar was one of the best to ever play his position, better than anyone who played in her era and today’s announcement was a year overdue.

As for the others: I won’t begrudge Bert Blyleven’s entrance, though I am not sure he belongs in the hall. Two others Jack Morris, a top-notch pitcher, and shortstop Barry Larkin are close. I would vote for Larkin, who was the best all-around shortstop of his era — the years between Ripken/Ozzie Smith and the current Jeter/A-Rod group. Morris is a closer call, like Blyleven, because his numbers do not jump out and say Hall. But there were few pitchers on his level during his prime and he was a gutty winner.

So congrats to Alomar and Blyleven.

• Send me an e-mail.
• Read poetry at The Subterranean.
• Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
• Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet