Rickey Henderson garnered 94.8% of the vote which has lead to a lot of… Let’s say complaining… That his percentage wasn’t higher. Personally, I believe that Rickey was one of the greatest outfielders ever to play the game and if I had a ballot I certainly would have voted for him. However I don’t understand the venom directed at those who didn’t cast a ballot. He’s in. End of story. When he’s delivering his induction speech next summer (which is destined to be a classic) no one will care about his percentage. And when you tour the museum in a year or two and see his plaque, you won’t care or remember how many votes he earned. He’s not Rickey Henderson, just shy of 95% Hall of Famer. He’s Rickey Henderson, Hall of Famer. And that’s as it should be.

But because I do love the percentages, I’ll note that his 94.8% isn’t the travesty some believe it to be. Consider the fact he earned the highest percentage of anyone since 1999 when Nolan Ryan tallied 98.8% and George Brett received 98.2%.

In fact, going back to 1979 (Rickey’s rookie season) only seven players have earned a higher percentage.

Mike Schmidt - 96.5%
Steve Carlton - 95.6%
Tom Seaver - 98.8%
Johnny Bench - 96.4%
Hank Aaron - 97.8%

It seems to me that Rickey is in some quality company. If we’re going to obsess over percentages, maybe we should lower the bar from 100%.

Some other percentages and trends from Monday’s vote:

– In his third year on the ballot, Mark McGwire still has yet to earn a quarter of the vote. He garnered 21.9% of the vote, down from last year’s 23.6%.

– With 67% of the vote, the candidacy of Andre Dawson continues to gather steam. Since becoming eligible and winning 45.3% of the vote in 2002, The Hawk has seen his support grow every year but one. It would seem that like Rice, Dawson is an inevitable inductee. He won’t gain induction next year, but he seems a good bet for 2011 or 2012.

– Time is running out for Bert Blyleven. With three years remaining on the ballot, he garnered his highest percentage with 62.7% but has a long way to go. A couple of things are working against him. First, his initial support where he didn’t top 20% until his fourth year on the ballot is just too large an obstacle. Second, while his percentage increased from last year, it rose only 0.8% which is just a stunning lack of progress. Treading water at this stage isn’t an option. Next year, with a weak first year class on the ballot, he has to earn at least 7% more to have any kind of hope of making a speech in Cooperstown.

– Another personal favorite, Tim Raines, lost about two percentage points, falling to 22.6% from last year’s 24.3%. It’s early, but we’ve quite a fight on our hands to get The Rock inducted into Cooperstown.