Today, six men finally gained their long overdue recognition with their election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Brooklyn Dodgers legend Gil Hodges, pitching great Jim Kaat, Cuban superstars Minnie Minoso and Tony Oliva plus Negro Leaguers Bud Fowler and Buck O'Neil are scheduled to be enshrined into Cooperstown on July 24, 2022.
Of course, there is certain bittersweet quality to this belated recognition. Only Kaat and Oliva are still alive and they are both 83. A lot can happen between now and next July. Bud Fowler has been dead for over a century while Gil Hodges has been dead nearly half a century collapsing of a heart attack right before the 1972 season was to begin while managing the New York Mets two days shy of his 48th birthday. Minnie Minoso passed away in 2015 having been repeatedly rejected by both the BBWAA and the Golden Era Committee in 2011 and again in 2014 shortly before his death as were Hodges, Kaat and Oliva. Buck O'Neil was rejected for Hall of Fame consideration in 2006 on a special ballot for Negro League players though he graciously spoke on behalf of the 17 players who were inducted at Cooperstown that summer. Less than three months later, O'Neil died at the age of 94. Still, better now than never.
Hodges finally gets to join his Brooklyn Dodger Boys of Summer compatriots Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella and Pee Wee Reese in Cooperstown. He had seven straight 100 RBI seasons, was named to 8 NL All-Star Teams in 9 years, won three Gold Gloves at first base and would have won more had the award been introduced earlier and, of course, played in 7 World Series earning one ring in Brooklyn in 1955 and a second ring in Los Angeles in1959. Hodges would return to New York to play with the expansion Mets in 1962 and 1963. Six years later, Hodges led the Miracle Mets to a World Series title as their manager. When Hodges ended his playing career, his 370 HRs were the most for a right-handed hitter in NL history. Hodges appeared on the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) ballot 15 times only exceeding 60% of the vote thrice including 63.4% of the vote in his final year on the ballot in 1983 but well short of the 75% threshold. Hodges attained the highest vote total of anyone not inducted into Cooperstown.
If Hodges was the heart and soul of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Minnie Minoso was the same for the Chicago White Sox in the 1950's and 1960's. The Cuban born Minoso got his first exposure to American baseball playing for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues from 1946 to 1948. Bill Veeck offered him a contract with the Cleveland Indians and he would become the first black Cuban to play in MLB on April 19, 1949 just over two years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. But Minoso would make his presence truly known in 1951 when early that season he was shipped to the Chisox in a three team deal with the Philadelphia Athletics. Minoso led the AL with 31 stolen bases and finished runner up to Gil McDougald of the New York Yankees as AL Rookie of the Year. Although Minoso never won the AL batting title he hit .300 or better eight times between 1951 and 1960. If not for coming out of retirement in 1976 and 1980 while in his 50's, Minoso's lifetime batting average would have been over .300 rather than .299. While known as Mr. White Sox, Minoso did not play with the White Sox team that won the AL pennant in 1959 as he had been traded back to the Tribe for Early Wynn and Al Smith prior to the 1958 season. However, Minoso would return to the South Side of Chicago in 1960 where he enjoyed two productive seasons before stints with the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Senators before returning to the Chisox for a third time in 1964. Minoso collected 2,110 hits, led the AL in stolen bases thrice, won three Gold Gloves for his outfield defense and was named to 13 All-Star teams (MLB and Negro Leagues combined). He fell off the BBWAA ballot after receiving less than 2% of the vote in 1969. But because he returned as an active player, he was eligible to rejoin the ballot in 1986 and remained on it through 1999 although he only twice garnered more than 20% of the vote.
For more than a decade, Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva were teammates on the Minnesota Twins. Kaat had signed with the organization when they were still known as the Washington Senators in 1957 making his big league debut in D.C. in 1959. Kaat became a regular member of the starting rotation when the team moved to Minneapolis in 1961. The following season Kaat won 18 games, led the AL in shutouts, was named to his first All-Star Team and won his first of 16 Gold Gloves. Kaat would be the ace of the 1965 club which won the AL pennant though his best overall season with the Twins was the following year when he led the AL in wins with 25. The Twins placed Kaat on waivers late in the 1973 season where he was quickly claimed by the Chicago White Sox. Kaat enjoyed back to back 20 win campaigns with the Chisox in 1974 and 1975. The White Sox traded Kaat to the Philadelphia Phillies prior to the 1976 season in a deal which included Alan Bannister and Dick Ruthven. Kaat would win his last two Gold Gloves in a Phillies uniform. During the 1979 season, the Phillies sold Kaat to the New York Yankees who less than a year later sold him to the St. Louis Cardinals. In his last five big league seasons, Kaat pitched predominantly out of the bullpen but during this period he became one of the few players to have ever graced the field in four different decades and also finally won a World Series ring with the 1982 Cardinals. Kaat finished his career after the 1983 season with a won loss record of 283-237 with a 3.45 ERA in 898 appearances over 25 big league seasons. He was on the BBWAA ballot between 1989 and 2003 but never earned more than 30% of the vote.
Tony Oliva spent his entire professional career with the Twins. After cups of coffee with the big league club in 1962 and 1963, Oliva would win AL Rookie of the Year in 1964 in which he led the AL in hits (217), runs scored (109), doubles (43) while winning the AL batting title with a .323 average - the first rookie to ever do so. Oliva would win the AL batting title again in 1965 with a .321 mark while once again leading the league in hits (185) en route to an AL pennant. Over the next six seasons, Oliva led the AL in hits and doubles three more times and won his third AL batting title with a career best .337 average. Oliva was named to the AL All-Star Team every year between 1964 and 1971. A severe knee injury forced Oliva to miss nearly the entire 1972 season. Although he played four more seasons, primarily as a DH, Oliva was not the same player. He would retire after the 1976 season. In his 15-year MLB career, Oliva collected 1,917 hits for a lifetime batting average of .304. Oliva was on the BBWAA ballot between 1982 and 1996 but only exceeded 40% of the vote twice.
Hodges, Kaat, Minoso and Oliva were elected by the Golden Era Committee while O'Neil and Fowler were elected by the Early Days Committee. O'Neil played in the Negro American League first with the Memphis Red Sox and then with the Kansas City Monarchs during the 1930's and 1940's eventually becoming the team's manager. O'Neil would later become the first African-American to be hired as a coach and a scout both with the Chicago Cubs. In the latter role, O'Neil signed future Hall of Famer Lou Brock. O'Neil was instrumental in establishing the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City and became a worldwide celebrity after his appearances in Ken Burns' PBS documentary Baseball. Bud Fowler is the first African-American known to have played professional baseball having done so between the 1870s and 1890s and primarily played on white teams. How the first African-American player known to have played professional baseball wasn't enshrined into Cooperstown until now I'll never know. But again better late than never.
These six men, both living and dead, may be joined by others. The BBWAA will announce its results on January 25, 2022. The ballot includes the likes of Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. But for tonight this hour belongs to Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva, Buck O'Neil and Bud Fowler.
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