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Chris Counts... I guess it's time to restart the endless debate ... personally, I'm thrilled Vada Pinson made the list, but even as one of his biggest fans, I consider him a bit of a stretch. I find the exclusion of Minnie Minoso, who Bill James calls "the best player not in the Hall of Fame," far more disturbing. What in the world did Minnie ever do to offend the baseball establishment? He did lead the league in being hit by pitches in 10 of his 11 seasons as a regular, so he must have made a few folks mad at him ...
It's also nice to see Maury Wills on the list. He's another guy who made a few enemies, but when you compare him to other Hall of Fame shortstops, I believe he is deserving, especially when you consider he played in an era dominated by pitching and he played in a bonfide pitcher's park, and still hit over .280 for his career (he also picked up three World Series rings) ...
Here's the article ...
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Ten former Major League players, whose careers began in 1943 or later, will be considered for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009 by the Veterans Committee, with results to be announced Dec. 8 at baseball's Winter Meetings, it was announced today.
Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre and Maury Wills will be considered for election by the Veterans Committee for enshrinement in 2009, with votes to be cast by Hall of Fame members this fall. Any candidate to receive 75 percent of the vote among all ballots cast will earn election to the Hall of Fame and will be enshrined on July 26, 2009. There are 64 living Hall of Famers.
The ballot for the 2009 Veterans Committee election of players whose careers began in 1943 or later was devised by Hall of Fame members, who served as the Screening Committee in narrowing the list from 21 to 10 names during the month of August. Earlier this year, the Historical Overview Committee of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, comprised of 11 veteran baseball writers and historians, selected 20 finalists from a list of all eligible players, those whose careers spanned at least 10 Major League seasons and started in 1943 or later. Concurrently, a screening committee comprised of six Hall of Famers selected five names for the ballot, and the two lists were merged for a total of 21 candidates.
The 21 candidates considered by the Screening Committee: Allen, Ken Boyer, Bert Campaneris, Rocky Colavito, Mike Cuellar, Steve Garvey, Hodges, Kaat, Ted Kluszewski, Mickey Lolich, Roger Maris, Lee May, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Oliva, Oliver, Pinson, Santo, Tiant, Torre and Wills.