Alomar and Blyleven In, Bagwell Misses on First Try

Jeff Bagwell is officially not a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. The official results were released today and Bags gained 41.7% of the vote, missing the required 75% percent. However, the Houston Astros legend received the most votes this year of all players on the ballot for the first time ahead of Edgar Martinez (32.9) and Larry Walker (20.3). He also finished well ahead of other sluggers from his own era such as Fred McGriff (17.9%), Mark McGwire (19.8%) and Rafael Palmeiro (11%). Roberto Alomar (90%) and Bert Blyleven (79.7%) were the only players to pass the required mark.

Overall, Bagwell finished 6th behind the aforementioned Alomar and Blyleven as well as Barry Larkin (62.1%), Jack Morris (53.5%), and Lee Smith (45.3%).

Any player who receives at least 5% of votes appears on the ballot the following year so Bagwell will have a chance in 2012 to go in with his longtime teammate Craig Biggio who will be up for his first time.

The players I voted for in the BBA (Baseball Bloggers Alliance) official vote were Alomar, Blyleven, Bagwell, Tim Raines (37.5%), Walker, and Kevin Brown (2.1%).