On this day in history, January 19:
Baseball stars Cy Young, Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie, Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, Early Wynn, Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews were elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, which honors those who have excelled in playing, managing, and serving the sport, was dedicated on June 12, 1939. The myth that U.S. Civil War hero Abner Doubleday invented the game in Cooperstown was instrumental in the early marketing of the hall.
The first five men elected to the Hall of Fame were Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson, named in 1936. By 2010, 292 people had been elected, including 203 former major league players, 35 Negro leaguers, 19 managers, nine umpires, and 26 pioneers, executives and organizers.
Players are inducted through election by either the Baseball Writers Association of America or the Veterans Committee. Five years after retirement, a player with 10 years of major league experience who passes a screening committee is eligible. From a final ballot, each writer may vote for up to 10 players, and a player named on 75 percent or more of all ballots cast is elected.
Young, Speaker, Lajoie in 1937
Cy Young, who pitched for five major league teams from 1890 to 1911, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937. He set many records, some of which have stood for a century. He retired with 511 career wins, 94 ahead of Walter Johnson, who is second on the list of most wins in major league history.
He holds the records for most career innings pitched (7,355), most career games started (815), and most complete games (749). He also won at least 30 games in a season five times, with 10 other seasons of 20 or more wins. He pitched three no-hitters, including the first perfect game. A year after his death, the Cy Young Award was established to honor the previous year's best pitcher.
Tris Speaker, an outfielder, started playing for the Boston Red Sox in 1907. Traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1916, he was from 1919-26 player-manager of the club, leading it to its first pennant and world championship in 1920. One of the outstanding batters in history, with a lifetime average of .345, he was also regarded as one of the best defensive players in the American League.
Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, a second baseman, began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1896. He jumped to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1901, when his batting average was .422, still a league record. He won three batting crowns and ended his career in 1915-16 with the Athletics with a lifetime .339 average. His career total of 3,242 hits was the second best at the time in baseball history.
Koufax, Berra, Wynn in 1972
Sandy Koufax, who pitched from 1955-66 for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, was named the National League's most valuable player in 1963. He also won the 1963, 1965 and 1966 Cy Young Awards unanimously, making him the first three-time winner of that honor. In those seasons, he also won the pitcher's triple crown by leading the league in wins, strikeouts and earned run average.
Koufax was the first major leaguer to pitch four no-hitters, including a perfect game. Despite his brief career, his 2,396 career strikeouts ranked seventh in history as of his retirement, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers. Retiring at his peak at age 30 due to arthritis, he became at 36 the youngest player ever elected to the Hall of Fame.
Yogi Berra, also inducted in 1972, was a clutch hitter and one of the greatest catchers of all time. He joined the New York Yankees in 1946 and stayed with the team until 1965. As a player, he holds several World Series records, including the most titles (10) and most series played (14).
As a manager, he led the Yankees to the World Series in 1964 and did the same with the Mets in 1973. He coached and managed the Yankees again from 1976-85, and ended his career as a coach with the Houston Astros from 1986-89. His cryptic comments, or Yogi-isms, such as "it ain't over 'til it's over" and "it's deja vu all over again," are legendary.
Early Winn, a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, recorded his 300th and final win at age 43 in 1963. He led the American League in innings pitched three times and set a league record for most years pitched (23). He recorded five 20-win seasons, 2,334 strikeouts, 49 shutouts, and 4,556 innings pitched in 691 games.
Banks and Mathews in 1977 and 1978
Ernie Banks, who once played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues, was elected to Hall of Fame in 1977. Signed by the Chicago Cubs in 1953, he became their first black player on the field and then one of the National League's leading hitters, with 512 home runs,1,636 runs batted in, and more than 40 home runs in five seasons.
The Braves’ Eddie Mathews was elected to Hall of Fame in 1978. One of the game’s greatest third basemen, he became in 1967 only the seventh player to hit 500 career home runs. Over 17 years, he hit 512 homers, was in three World Series, and drove in 100 or more runs five times. He played with the Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers before becoming manager of the Braves for two and a half years.
According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, about 350,000 fans visit the museum every year, with the total surpassing 14 million. The visitors see only a fraction of its 35,000 artifacts, 2.6 million newspaper clippings and photographs, and 130,000 baseball cards. Its motto is: "Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations."
SOURCES:
The Baseball Encyclopedia: The Complete and Definitive Record of Major League Baseball, MacMillan Publishing, 1996.
John Kirshon - John Kirshon is a journalist/editor with more than 25 years of experience at the Associated Press, The New York Times and CBS News. He was ...
