Source: techcrunch.com

In the American League, the East also won comfortably landing 49.5% of the vote. The Central came in 2nd with 29% and the West wound up bringing up the rear with 21.5%.

On the National League side of the ledger, it wasn’t even close. The East waltzed past its competition landing 65% of the votes cast. The Central was a distant 2nd but had a respectable showing by bringing in 27% of the vote. The West wound up being anything but wild. It received just 8% of the vote en route to being the least supported division of the six.

Now it’s time to pick a champion between the NL East and the AL East. It’s akin to going out to a seafood restaurant for some shrimp or lobster only to find out chicken is all that is on the menu.

Hmm … chicken or chicken … I’ll take the one that doesn’t knock the Twins out of the playoffs every year. That aside I’d take the NL East anyway. Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Zimmerman are the two best players at their position in all of baseball (Sorry Evan) and I love the young (two thirds of it anyway) and dynamic OF of Stanton, Heyward and Werth. It goes without saying – but clearly I’m saying it anyway – that the NL East’s rotation is something to drool over. Said rotation also gets bonus points since Josh Johnson was born in Minneapolis.

So, which East do you prefer? NL or AL? Just click here to check out the rosters and cast your vote. The poll will stay open until 12:00 am March 19th.

Unfortunately for the legions of AL Central supporters, chicken is all that is on the menu.

image source: twinsdugout.net

Bert Blyleven is, once again, on the HOF ballot, but this his final year of eligibility. Last year he came just shy of the 75% threshold, with 74.2% of the vote. While that might bode well for his chances this year, keep in mind that the ballot was also a bit thin last year, with only a few other notable, eligible players: Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, and Andre Dawson. The ballot is stacked this year, with Rafael Palmiero, Larry Walker, and Jeff Bagwell all on the ballot for the first time, and Alomar and Larkin likely to gain more support as well. It’s likely, given how close he came to being inducted last year, that the voters will finally put Bert in the Hall, but it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that he might be overlooked on such a loaded ballot. There are, after all, certain members of the BBWAA who will only vote to induct one player per year, and would probably vote to induct Alomar (who also missed induction by less than 3% of the vote) over Bert.

I think Blyleven’s HOF case has been examined to death, so I’m not going to do that here. I’m just going to let his numbers speak for themselves, then let you guys decide if he should get in or not. (more…)