We all know about Alomar's amazing career here. A 123 OPS+, three playoff appearances in his first three years including 2 World Series wins. Clutch home runs. Defense that looked amazing at times, leading to a record 10 gold gloves (most for a second baseman). 12 All-Star games, seven times getting MVP votes (1.91 shares). Clearly a HOF'er. It's unfortunate that he didn't make the cut last year because of some misguided desire by certain members of the BBWAA to restrict the honour of being a "first ballot hall of famer" to those who somehow deserve it (I'm still not clear on exactly who that refers to).
His playoff as a Jay stats: 44 hits, 2 home runs (both vs Oakland in 1992), his 1993 WS stats were incredible: .480/.519/.640. Lifetime in the playoffs he hit .313/.381/.448 and for the regular season he hit .300/.371/.443.
Some more stats, comparing Alomar to second basemen already in the hall:
Obviously WAR isn't the be all and end all, but it's clear Robbie isn't in the conversation with Collins, Morgan, Hornsby and Lajoie for greatest second baseman of all-time. He's probably in the top 10, though. A top 10 all-time player at any position is a hall of famer.
His playing career was remarkable and if Ash hadn't tried to lowball him we might have had Alomar throughout the 90's. His career ended quickly - from superstar at 33 (150 OPS+) to never getting a 90+ OPS+ after. However, it was an amazing one and we'll never forget that amazing trade Gillick did to get him (Alomar & Carter for McGriff & Fernandez).
Here's Alomar getting the call:
Here are the full voting results. Those whose vote %s moved by more than 3% are highlighted. To those lamenting a lack of Tim Raines: these things take time. Have patience. He actually showed a pretty strong improvement this year, and as John notes below, Larkin looks good for next year what with the weak ballot.
