2011 MLB Hall of Fame Class: Cooperstown to Induct Alomar, Blyleven and Gillick

Last week, I had a chance to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and the hallowed museum is getting ready to open it's doors to yet another induction class.

For fans of baseball north of the border and the Toronto Blue Jays in particular, this will be a big day.

Former general manager Pat Gillick and former All-Star second baseman Roberto Alomar are two of the three men being enshrined this year. Gillick was the architect of the Blue Jays' back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, and of course, Alomar was a big part of both of those.

Gillick was the man who swung the blockbuster trade with the San Diego Padres to land Alomar and OF Joe Carter. Both players would become integral parts of the team success in the early 1990s, and Alomar will become the first player enshrined in Cooperstown with the Blue Jays logo on his hat.

For a team that has had lots of big-name players grace its roster of the years, there aren't many more beloved in the city of Toronto than Alomar, the man whom many came to call "Second to None."

That moniker originally came from a book written about Alomar and then his exclusive line of sportswear.

There are many defining moments from his career, but for avid Blue Jays fans, there are two that are bound to stick out the most. The first comes from the 1992 American League Championship Series against Oakland when Alomar hit a game-tying two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning off Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley.

The Blue Jays eventually won the game in 11 innings to take a 3-1 ALCS lead. For those who don't remember, Eckersley won the American League's Cy Young Award and was named the Most Valuable Player that year.

The second moment provided one of the defining images of Alomar's time with the Blue Jays. During the 1992 World Series against the Atlanta Braves, Alomar did the Braves patented tomahawk chop as he trotted down the third base line to score a run. That clip has been included in virtually every highlight film of that series and it personified the way Alomar played the game: competitively and passionately, and he was always having fun.

Alomar meant so much to the Blue Jays organization that they announced this week that they will be retiring his No. 12 uniform, the first number to be retired in franchise history.

Congratulations, Robbie, you are a class act and a fantastic representative of the Blue Jays organization!

Fans, please feel free to share your memories of Alomar and the Jays' glory years, Gillick and Blyleven in the comments section below.