The 2011 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame results were announced today, and only two players made it through the 75% threshold--Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar. There were only two legitimate Bay Area-centric candidates, and neither came close to reaching that ceiling. Click after the jump to hear about Mark McGwire and Kirk Rueter.
The first and most prominent candidate was the former Oakland Athletics slugger. McGwire knocked 363 home runs from 1986 to 1997 in the East Bay, a franchise record. He hit .289 and an incredible 49 home runs in his rookie season, knocked in another 42 home runs in 1992, belted out 52 in 1996 to lead the major leagues, and helped contribute to the As victory in the 1989 World Series. McGwire's most famous season came with the St. Louis Cardinals in the home run campaign.
However, his infamous steroid confessions with Bob Costas hasn't had any effect, and the voting even decreased to 19.8%. This is his fourth year of candidacy--he still has 11 more to go.
The other candidate's road is probably going to be rockier. Rueter is the winningest left-handed pitcher in San Francisco Giants history, winning 105 of his 130 games as a Giant and finishing with a career ERA of 4.27. In the 2002 World Series season, Rueter went 14-8 with a 3.23 ERA. However, he received zero votes, which means he is no longer on future ballots and can only get in through with help from the Veterans Committee.
Gotta love the Baseball Hall Of Fame voting process!