17 Added to the 2006 Baseball Hall of Fame Class

[Swaggs]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2346848

Effa Manley was among the 17 candidates elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday, becoming tthe first woman ever to achieve the honor.

The electees include seven Negro leagues players: Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Biz Mackey, Mule Suttles, Cristobal Torriente, and Jud Wilson; five pre-Negro leagues players: Frank Grant, Pete Hill, José Méndez, Louis Santop, and Ben Taylor; four Negro leagues executives Effa Manley, Alex Pompez, Cum Posey, and J.L. Wilkinson; and one pre-Negro leagues executive Sol White. Manley, an owner in the Negro leagues, becomes the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 17 electees will be honored during ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 30, along with Bruce Sutter, the lone electee from the Baseball Writers' Association of America election announcement in January.

Manley co-owned the Newark Eagles with husband from 1936-1947, handling scheduling, travel, payroll, promotions, contracts and all the other daily details.

Each of the 17 received the necessary 75 percent of the 12-member voting committee to earn election to the Hall of Fame.

Of the 39 people that were considered, Minnie Minoso and John "Buck" O'Neil are the only living candidates, but neither received the call.

"I know that baseball fans have me in their own Hall of Fame -- the one in their hearts," Minoso said in a statement. "That matters more to me than any official recognition. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be, and I am truly honored to be considered. I've given my life to baseball, and the game has given me so much. That's what matters the most to me."

_____

My take: I cannot help but think about how much I hate going to things like high school and college graduations. And now, Bruce Sutter is probably thinking the same thing. He went from being the only inductee to the likelihood of having to listen to 17 acceptance speeches from the relatives of deceased ballplayers.

[IwasHere]

17 is a little overboard. They should of only allowed 5 at the max this year. What the hell was the rush?

The 2005 class had a grand total of 2 people.

[kcchief19]

I doubt they will have representatives from all 17 speak; I'm guessing they will have only a couple of representatives speak; I don't know that there is precedent for having speakers for each of the deceased Hall of Famers.

I think it's very sad Buck O'Neil didn't get the call. He is largely the reason there was a special vote for these Negro League candidates, and to deny him the call is a cruel irony.

You could argue just as convincingly both ways on whether or not Buck was a Hall of Famer; he was a steady but not great player. Most of his claim to fame for the hall comes from an accumulation of achievements. In addition to being a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, he won two batting titles, managed the Kansas City Monarchs to five titles, was the first African-American coach in the MLB, signed Ernie Banks and Lou Brock as scout for the Cubs and has largely been the face of the Negro Leagues for more than a decade. Without Buck, there wouldn't be a Negro Leagues Hall of Fame here in Kansas City. He has kept the spirit and the history of the league alive.

It would have been nice to put him in the hall while he were alive. Now I suspect he'll never get that chance.

[sterlingice]

I just find it proposterous that, if they're going to stretch the requirements for the Negro Leagues, Buck O'Neil doesn't get in for his other accomplishments. These are going to be some of those players that we talk about in 20 years, heck, now, as those guys who's numbers don't stack up. And they can't find a place for the guy who made it possible for all of them to be there. As kcchief19 said, it's just ironic.

SI

[QuikSand]

I doubt they will have representatives from all 17 speak; I'm guessing they will have only a couple of representatives speak; I don't know that there is precedent for having speakers for each of the deceased Hall of Famers.

I think it's very sad Buck O'Neil didn't get the call. He is largely the reason there was a special vote for these Negro League candidates, and to deny him the call is a cruel irony.

You could argue just as convincingly both ways on whether or not Buck was a Hall of Famer; he was a steady but not great player. Most of his claim to fame for the hall comes from an accumulation of achievements. In addition to being a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, he won two batting titles, managed the Kansas City Monarchs to five titles, was the first African-American coach in the MLB, signed Ernie Banks and Lou Brock as scout for the Cubs and has largely been the face of the Negro Leagues for more than a decade. Without Buck, there wouldn't be a Negro Leagues Hall of Fame here in Kansas City. He has kept the spirit and the history of the league alive.

It would have been nice to put him in the hall while he were alive. Now I suspect he'll never get that chance.


Excellent post.

[Swaggs]

Excellent post.

Agreed.

The fact that he is one of the few negro players still living, is a worthy inductee, and they are missing the opportunity to put a living face on what they are (attempting) to do with this wide-scale induction, is another example of how poor MLB is at connecting with fans.

[sterlingice]

Agreed.

The fact that he is one of the few negro players still living, is a worthy inductee, and they are missing the opportunity to put a living face on what they are (attempting) to do with this wide-scale induction, is another example of how poor MLB is at connecting with fans.Not only that but a good face. He's always enthusiastic and loves to talk about baseball and how great it is in a way you don't see any more. He's the most visibile figure for the Negro Leagues and in KC, he's second to George Brett as local baseball celebrity (tho Sweeney would give a run for his money among casual fans).

I still can't get how, in this special election, he didn't get in.

SI

[Swaggs]

Not only that but a good face. He's always enthusiastic and loves to talk about baseball and how great it is in a way you don't see any more. He's the most visibile figure for the Negro Leagues and in KC, he's second to George Brett as local baseball celebrity (tho Sweeney would give a run for his money among casual fans).

I still can't get how, in this special election, he didn't get in.

SI

Yeah, it is pretty hard to fathom that they reviewed a list, found 17 people worthy, and he was not one of them. I mean, when you are letting 17 people into the Hall of Fame, at one time, how can you justify not allowing him in?

[Swaggs]

A more thorough article: Link (http://sports.excite.com/news/02272006/v9250.html)

An interesting tidbit:
Manley was white, but married a black man and passed as a black woman, said Larry Lester, a baseball author and member of the voting committee.

And, something to add a little more salt to the Buck O'Neil wound:
Alex Pompez, Cum Posey, J.L. Wilkinson and Sol White were the other executives elected.

Buck cannot get in, but they let a guy that has this in his history into the Hall of Fame:
Pompez, like many Negro League owners, was involved with organized crime figures. His connections with Dutch Schultz's organization led to his indictment in 1936 for involvement in policy rackets when New York County District Attorney Thomas Dewey selected him as one of the targets in a crackdown on New York City racketeering. Pompez fled to Mexico after being tipped off to his arrest; he was eventually arrested by Mexican authorities, but Mexican officials refused to extradite him. Pompez decided to return to the U.S. as a state witness in the investigation.

[Shkspr]

The worst injustice has to be that they kept Buck O'Neil out in favor of Biz Markie. "just a Friend", my ass.

[sterlingice]

Wow, Poz is really hot under the collar in his editorial (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/13978102.htm) today. Ok, for those of you who have never read, Joe Posnanski is the best newspaper columnist I've ever read, the good read on the sports page to balance out the crap Whitlock spews. He's a wordsmith of the highest caliber and an eternal optimist, the latter being very important if you write about sports in KC. Most of the time, he's very cheery but his article about the vote is the rawest, hastiest, angriest thing you will ever seen from him.

You probably wouldn't think it to read it, particularly if you're used to reading the tabloidian East Coast sports columnists, but this is as angry as you'll ever see him in a column. When a a guy who manages to come up with a column every year about how the Royals will win the division in a wistful, childlike way takes a swipe at a couple of people on the committee in frustration, that tells you the magnitude of the travesty that took place yesterday.

SI

[Buccaneer]

At what point do they form an Unselection Committee?