After all this time

The Baseball Writers Association of America got it right.

This time.

On Wednesday, baseball writers across the country elected Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Blyleven was chosen on 79.7 percent of the ballot. It takes 75 percent approval to be elected.

I have been saying for many years Blyleven deserved to be enshrined.

And on Wednesday, he was finally paid his dues.

Blyleven finished his career with 287 victories, while tossing 60 shutouts. He also ranks fifth all-time with 3,701 strikeouts.

Alomar was chosen on 90 percent of the ballots. He was a 12-time All-Star and won 10 Gold Gloves as a second baseman, a Major League Baseball record. He hit .300 for his career and won two World Series titles.

Some of the players not getting in this included Rafael Palmeiro, Jeff Bagwell, Mark McGwire, Juan Gonzalez and a host of others.

For the most part, some of these players will -- more than likely -- never get into the Hall of Fame, unless they pay the price to enter.

Several baseball writers have said this much.

San Francisco Chronicle writer Susan Slusser, in an e-mail, stated, "I will not vote for any player connected with steroid use, because I believe cheaters shouldn't be rewarded with the sport's highest honor."

I say bravo to this.

Sort of.

Take Bagwell for example.

In his career, he hit .297, slugged 449 home runs and drove in more than 1,500 runs. He also won an MVP award.

And his name was never associated with steroid use. In fact, he never tested positive.

Bagwell was on 41.7 percent of the ballots Wednesday and said, "People are going to think what they want to think. If they don't think that anybody was good in this era, that's fine. Like I said, I'm one of the first ones to come up in that era. I'm OK with it. There's nothing I can do about it."

With the way some of the voting has gone in recent years, I truly believe Bagwell will eventually get into the Hall of Fame.

There are still a few other players the writers have ignored throughout the years and like Blyleven, they should both eventually get in.

Jim Kaat and Tommy John are the only pitchers to win more than 280 games that are eligible to be in the Hall of Fame that are not in.

Kaat's time to get voted in by the writers ended a few years ago. Now, he'll have to wait to see if he gets elected in by the Veterans Committee.

Like Kaat, John never received enough votes to earn Hall of Fame status. Now, the Terre Haute native who won 288 games in his professional career has to wait on the Veterans Committee as well.

Also missing the Hall this year was former Cincinnati Red Barry Larkin, who was on 62 percent of the ballots, and Jack Morris, who was 54 percent of the ballots.

Chances are, both may be elected next year.

All-time hits leader Pete Rose, who was banned from baseball several years ago, also earned three write-in votes.