Circle Bert a Hall of Famer

On his 14th attempt at the Hall of Fame, the great Bert Blyleven was finally elected today, along with Roberto Alomar, who was on the ballot for the second time.

Alomar received 90% of the vote, and Blyleven 79.2%. Barry Larkin was third and he received 62.1%. That bodes well for him next year, as there are no strong first-time candidates for 2012.

On the "steroid" front, first-time candidates Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez fared rather poorly. Palmeiro got just 11%, while Gonzalez barely got over the 5% cutoff point to be considered next year, at 5.2%.

Mark McGwire again came nowhere close, and his numbers actually dropped after his tearful TV admission last year. He went from 23% to 19% this year. It's pretty clear he will never join the immortals at Cooperstown.

It's also pretty clear that Alomar was penalized for the infamous spitting incident in Toronto in 1996 and was kept out because of it on the first ballot in 2010. He received 73% last year.

I am very pleased to see Blyleven get in, as he has been deserving and his vote totals have increased as the years went on. Here's more from MLB.com.

Congratulations to both Alomar and Blyleven, as they are both well-deserving. They join Pat Gillick, who was selected last month in the veteran's committee vote, as 2011 Hall of Famers.