Bert Blyeleven Finally Gets His ‘Hall Call’ [PHOTOS]

After 14 years of eligibility, and finally being elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this past winter, it was finally time for Bert Blyleven to get circled.

The longtime Twins pitcher and current television broadcaster gave his Hall of Fame induction speech Sunday and took his rightful place among baseball’s all time greatest players.

From the time I began to follow baseball, I always felt that Bert belonged in the Hall of Fame and would someday get there. His numbers speak for themselves.

Blyleven has 287 career wins as well as over 3700 strikeouts, both of which are immense accomplishments when compared with how the game has changed today. With more and more emphasis put on pitch counts as well as bullpens, it becomes harder and harder for starters to control their fate. Blyleven frequently finished games that he started; out of 685 games that he started he completed 242 of them, often finishing seasons with more complete games by himself than most teams today have in an entire season.

It is always a treat to see a great pitcher pitch or hear stories that they tell from their many seasons, and Bert is certainly full of them. Having his number retired by the Twins -- surrounded by a circle, of course -- is a fitting end to an outstanding career and the Hall of Fame is certainly adding a class act to its collection of the greats.

Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven sure does have a nice ring to it.