Bert

A bit of fun preceded Thursday's Twins game. Santana made Blyleven make good on his bet to shave his head if Santana pitched a shutout complete game. Santana did the honors. (A video of the "haircut" can be viewed on www.foxsports.com/mlb).

I think Bert as an announcer has brought a lot of fun to the Twins broadcasts. It doesn't matter where the Twins are playing, there is sure to be someone in the stands with a Circle Me Bert sign. (I love seeing the signs on t.v. but I hate sitting behind one at a game) Bert definitely knows the game and is a good commentator.

The questions remains--Why is Bert not in the Hall of Fame? It baffles me. The statistics below bear the prove that Bert is Hall of Fame worthy.

287 wins - 24th on the All-Time list.
250 loses - 10th on the All-Time list.
4,970 innings pitched - 13th on the All-Time list.
3,701 strikeouts - 5th on the All-Time list.
685 career starts - 8th on the All-Time list.
242 Complete games - 90th on the All-Time list.
60 shutouts - 9th on the All-Time list.

"Bert (Blyleven), forget the wins and losses. You finished almost five thousand innings. You pitched in 700 games. You struck out almost four thousand guys. What more does one arm have to do, to prove to people that this was a gift from God, and a guy who busted his butt for 22 years, and completed 242 games, and shut out sixty teams?" - Pitcher Rob Dibble

AMEN.