Every year, poor Bert Blyleven falls short of Cooperstown, and every year, he's asked how it feels. Looking back on 13 years of his glum responses is almost heartbreaking, like watching a frown in slow motion.
2010: appeared on 74.2% of HOF ballots
"I'm very, very happy for Andre Dawson. I was surprised Roberto Alomar didn't get in. Maybe he and I will get in next year." [Star Tribune]
2009: 62.7%
(Via text message) "I really have nothing to say. I am actually tired of defending my career numbers whether I should be in or not! Have a great day." [AP]
2008: 61.9%
"I'm very happy for Goose Gossage. ... If it ever happens, I'll be very excited, but I just hope I'm on this side of the grass when it does happen." [Star Tribune]
2007: 47.7%
"If you vote for me one year, how can you not vote for me the next year? I don't think I lost any more games. I didn't give up any more home runs. That's the only disappointing thing. ... I've learned over the years to take it with a grain of salt. If it happens, it happens. It's out of my control. I'm more worried about what I'm going to shoot [today in golf]." [Star Tribune]
2006: 53.3%
"My wife, Gail, and I were hoping for 50 percent. If it had been under 50 percent, we didn't know if I'd ever get in. It's a big mountain to climb, but I made a big jump." [Star Tribune]
2005: 40.9%
"I wanted my dad to be there. But my dad will always be in my heart. As my mother says to me, 'You're already a Hall-of-Famer.'" [Fort Myers News-Press]
2004: 35.4%
"It's nice that some of these 'bigger' writers are starting to realize that 287 wins, 60 shutouts, 242 complete games and all of those innings pitched are worthy. Why it's taken them six plus years to realize that is beyond me. ... But it would be nice for me to get in while my father is still alive. He's not doing too well [Parkinson's Disease] and I don't know if he would know what it means. People who know the history of baseball say they can't understand why I'm not in, and I'm not the only one who feels they're getting a little shafted." [Naples Daily News]
2003: 29.2%
"Will I be deceased by the time I go in? Then what good is it? They vote guys in who've been dead 30 or 40 years. I'm sure those guys are rolling over in their graves with excitement. ... As each year slips away, it's a little more frustrating for me because of my dad's health. ... The sun will rise tomorrow. I'll go on with my life." [USA Today]
2002: 26.3%
"I had to laugh the other day. Someone in the Fort Myers paper wrote that Jack Morris should get consideration because he had 175 complete games. Well, I had 242." [Orange County Register]
2001: 23.5%
"To see my numbers increase like that, I think it's a joke. The Hall of Fame is supposed to be about the numbers. It's a museum — it's about the history of baseball, a place to enshrine the all-time greats. You look at my numbers, and they're better than the numbers of a lot of the all-time greats, and now my vote goes up 23 percent? Now I'm supposed to go out and party? I wish they would just end it, give me less than five percent. I don't want to go through what Tony Oliva went through for 15 years. ... I admire Tommy John and Jim Kaat, but this is the fourth year that they got more votes than me, and if you look at the numbers. ... This is a message to all the writers: Don't vote for me at all. ... The Twins were very nice to put my numbers out there, to campaign for me, and I'm very happy for Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield, very proud for them, but ..." [Star Tribune]
2000: 17.4%
"Who knows? This is my third time on the ballot. For Don Sutton and Phil Niekro and some other guys ... it seemed like it took them a few times to get in." [Star Tribune]
1999: 14.1%
None
1998: 17.5%
"I think my stats speak for themselves ... I believe that there's an order to being elected. I really feel the writers will look at the total statistics from my career and see the number of wins I was able to put up as well as winning a World Series championship." [Star Tribune]