Bert Blyleven zings Reggie Jackson over comment
Bert Blyleven visits the plaque room during his orientation visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Blyleven, who helped pitch the 1987 Minnesota Twins to a World Series and had 287 victories in his Major League Baseball career, was elected to the Hall of Fame in January on his 14th try. (May 3. 2011) Credit: AP
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Bert Blyleven was relaxed, a year after his induction into the Hall of Fame. He did not have to worry about making a speech, and he sure wasn't worried about remarks made about him by fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.
Blyleven had been at the top of Jackson's list of inductees who don't belong in the Hall--a list the former Yankee slugger gave in an interview with Sports Illustrated. When he was asked at the Hall of Fame golf outing yesterday what it was like to return and see his plaque, Blyleven said, "I just wanted to make sure it's still there, make sure Reggie didn't take it down or anything."
So what did he really think about Jackson's comment? "I didn't," the former pitcher said. "I just said God gives us many holes in our body and he just spoke out of the wrong one."
