COOPERSTOWN — Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera could become Hall of Famers much faster than expected after they retire. The waiting time is currently five years after a player retires to be named to the ballot. The National Baseball Hall of Fame, though, is considering making the waiting period only three years, The Post has learned.
That would be a great move.
Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven and Pat Gillick were inducted yesterday, and it was a terrific family-oriented ceremony.
A family of scouts and general managers came to honor Gillick in what is the busiest week of the year in baseball, with the trading deadline less than a week away. On this day the Alomar family became the first family of baseball, and pitcher Bert Blyleven lovingly remembered his dad and honored his 85-year-old mother, but it was a rather small crowd, announced at 17,500.
Just imagine the crowds when the likes of Jeter and Rivera are inducted.
“It’s going to be a freaking zoo,” Hall of Famer Goose Gossage told me.
Yes, the Bronx Zoo to the Cooperstown Zoo.
“I’m going to make sure I’m at those when those guys are inducted,” Gossage said. “I love those guys.
“I think what sets those guys apart is that they stayed with one team the whole time and have won championships, that doesn’t happen very often,” Gossage said. “It’s all Yankee. That would be very special.”
Though it was a small crowd it was an enthusiastic one. There was a large contingent of fans from Canada and Puerto Rico with flags waving.
Alomar won two world championships with the Blue Jays. The second baseman became the third Puerto Rican player to enter the Hall, following Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda. Gillick was the architect of those Blue Jays championship teams.
One reason Hall officials would want to shorten the waiting period is to make it a more “immediate” event. There is a lot to be said for that because, why should sure-fire, first-ballot Hall of Famers have to wait five years?
We’re much more of a quick-response world, and a three-year waiting period would fit the bill. This five-year waiting period was first enacted in the 1950s. Times have changed. There were 50 Hall of Famers on stage.
Alomar is the son of former major league second baseman Sandy Alomar. His brother, Sandy Jr., played in the majors for 20 years. Sandy Jr. mentioned how times were tough in Double-A when both played for Wichita in 1987. The apartment they shared had only one bed and one couch. Whoever had the better night at the plate got to sleep in the bed.
“I slept on the couch all year,” Sandy Jr. said.
Being the younger brother, though, Roberto was forced to do the laundry.
Alomar began his speech in Spanish to honor Puerto Rico and all Latin ballplayers.
“I always played for my island,” he explained.
Alomar said that his father was the greatest second baseman he ever saw, noting the love of family. He thanked his mother, Maria, for making him the person he has become.
Blyleven paid homage to his parents Joe and Jenny Blyleven.
“After battling Parkinson’s for many years, my pops passed away in 2004. I wish he was here, but you know, mom, I know he is up there looking down right now,” Blyleven said. “Mommy, I love you.”
This baseball village brings out the kid in everyone. This was a day of sunshine and celebration.
The ballot gets a little thin next year. Bernie Williams is on it and does not figure to garner much support. Holdovers Barry Larkin, Tim Raines and Jack Morris are the only ones to really have a shot. It really gets messy in 2013 with the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa on the ballot. Mike Piazza also is a first-timer in 2013.
It will be a while before Jeter and his 3,015 hits (and counting) and Rivera and his 584 saves (and counting) are eligible, but they just may get here a little faster than expected.