The results of this year's Baseball Hall Of Fame voting will be announced here in a few hours, and the best bet is that second baseman Bert Blyleven and former Pirates pitcher Bert Blyleven will be voted in. Also, another former Pirate, Dave Parker, is in his last year on the ballot. Chris Jaffe at the Hardball Times has an excellent piece on voters' tendencies, and he argues that Alomar and Blyleven will make it this year, while Reds shortstop Barry Larkin and Tigers pitcher Jack Morris will come up just short.
It would be excellent to see Blyleven make it. He's highly deserving from a statistical perspective, and it seems like many writers have declined to vote for him recently only because bloggers have whined so loudly that he should be admitted. Blyleven pitched for the Pirates from 1978 to 1980 and won a World Series game in 1979.
This year's first-year crop includes Jeff Bagwell and Rafael Palmeiro, but none look likely to make it. The issue of steroids will probably color some voters' opinions. Palmeiro tested positive and thus will probably miss this year despite 569 career home runs. There is no specific reason to think Bagwell did steroids, but that hasn't stopped at least one writer from using steroids to keep him off the ballot anyway.