Ricky Henderson should be a first ballot Hall of Famer and has the possibility of becoming the first player to be a unanimous selection (100%) by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The selection(s) will be announced on January 12, 2009. Tom Seaver (1992) and Nolan Ryan (1999) each received 98.8% of the votes during their selection year, which are the highest percentages to date. Henderson was somewhat of a jerk for most of his career, but that should not influence his election in 2009. The only other players on the ballot this year that could sneak in the Hall would be Dave Parker and Bert Blyleven.
Parker won an MVP in 1978 and had 2700 hits. Blyleven won 287 games and is still fifth all time in Strikeouts (3701). I don't understand Blyleven's ommision from the hall to date. He has more wins than Gibson, Palmer, Jenkins, Bunning and Roberts who were all first ballot selections.
If I were voting this year, I'd vote for Henderson and Blyleven.
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