Many times great players are overlooked and undervalued, see Bert Blyleven's Hall of Fame case.  However, the media's job has always been to bring information to the unknowing.  The question though is what happens when the media does not know?  Should the reverse be true?  Should the fans bring the information to the media?  They have en mass regarding Bert Blyleven's candidacy.  In fact, Bill James and many other writers of The Hardball Times have spent hours making Blyleven's case for him.

There is a player who is active today who Bert Blyleven might be able to console, Javier Vazquez.  Vazquez has been continually overlooked as an elite pitcher for most of his career, though his numbers eclipse many Hall of Famers'.   Currently, Vazquez is ranked 81st all time in strikeouts despite being just 30 years old.  His strikeouts aren't an anomaly as he ranks 27th all time in strikeouts per nine innings pitched, passing names like Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Walter Johnson and Tom Seaver.  In fact, Vazquez eclipses all but 5 members of the 3000 strikeout club in strikeouts per nine innings pitched except 5 (Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez).  Javier Vazquez is well on his way to joining this extremely elite club needing only to average his typical numbers for 6 and a half more seasons to reach this elite milestone. 

However, Vazquez is not just a strikeout pitcher.  His control has been impeccable throughout his entire career ranking him 17th all time on strikeouts per walk.  He bests names like Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax and John Smoltz.  He has continually anchored his staff with performance after performance dominating teams with his overpowering stuff. 

The only question will be will Vazquez's lack of wins hurt him in the writers' eyes much like Bert Blyleven?  If so, you know exactly where the educated will be: united in his case.