Reinventing the Baseball Hall of Fame: Final

Honoring unworthy people while ignoring those who are worthy of induction or those who overcame adversity is shameful of the Hall of Fame. Beginning with crediting Abner Doubleday with inventing the game for marketing purposes in the resort of Cooperstown, to the induction of the double play combination of 'Tinkers to Evers to Chance', to 'Frisch's Friends' being elected by the Veterans Committee, Baseball has alot to be embarrassed about when it comes to how its heritage has been handled.

Throughout this series of articles, I have challenged the Hall of Fame's elections and snubs. I am not the first to do that, nor will I be the last. Of the 296 people I have deemed worthy of induction, 211 are members of the Hall of Fame and 18 are not eligible yet. Of the 67 people who are not Hall of Famers, there are 18 position players, 14 pitchers, one manager, one executive, four pioneers, 12 Negro Leaguers, and 17 women. While Baseball has given respect to the Negro Leaguers from the 1920s through the 1950s by electing many of them into the Hall of Fame, there have been no female players from the AAGPBL elected. Women are banned from playing in the Minor Leagues and the Major Leagues, with only a few allowed to play in the Independant League. Since women cannot play in the Major Leagues, the Hall of Fame has ignored their contribution to Baseball by not electing any women, but has elected black players who never made the Major Leagues. The lone woman elected to the Hall of Fame was Effa Manley, a white woman who was part-owner of the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues. Wait... what?

Among the Hall of Fame members are eight Umpires. There are no Scouts, no Pitching Coaches, no Hitting Coaches, no Base Coaches, no Announcers, and no Writers in the Hall of Fame, so why are there Umpires? Contrary to popular belief, the great sports writer and ESPN analyst Peter Gammons is not a Hall of Famer. In 2005, he was honored with an award given by the BBWAA, the J.G. Taylor Spinks Award, but is not a member of the Hall of Fame and has no plaque hanging in the museum. Each year during the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Cermony, one sports writer and one broadcaster are presented with awards and are allowed to make acceptance speeches, however they are not inducted as Hall of Famers. Another false belief comes from the popular trivia question asking who were the first non-baseball playing celebrities inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The answer is purported to be Abbott and Costello, who are famous for their skit 'Who's on First?', which was honored by the Hall of Fame in 1957. There is a video of the hilarious bit that plays on a loop in the museum, however the men are not members of the Hall of Fame as claimed by their website, only honorees.

While the museum does a decent job of explaining some of Baseball's history, there are many unnecessary exhibits which could be replaced with more meaningful tributes. There are exhibits honoring Women in Baseball, Negro League Baseball, and Latins in Baseball. Smaller displays feature Fans, Scouts, Writers, Announcers, and even Movies but are rarely visited as they are set behind the plaque room. Missing are tributes to War Heroes (though Hall of Fame members have a medal under their plaques signifying military service), players with disabilities, and people who died while active players.

Early in its history, the Hall of Fame was going to present an 'Honor Roll' to acknowledge players and pioneers who were not Hall of Fame members, but the idea fizzled out in a few years. In 2007, the Hall of Fame created the 'Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award' to posthumously honor the great Buck O'Neil. The award will be given no more than every three years. The saddest example of how the Hall of Fame is a shameful institution is through their treatment of one of the most revered men in Baseball history. After having been a member of the Negro Leagues Committee from 1981 to 2000, O'Neil was put on the special 2006 ballot of Negro League players and pioneers. A new Negro Leagues Committee had done research over a number of years at the behest of MLB and were urged to elect a number of worthy Negro Leaguers to be inducted in 2006. The committee elected 17 people in February of that year, however O'Neil fell short of election. Why? His final shot at being a Hall of Famer while still living was somehow denied. Why? He made a memorable speech at the Induction Ceremony that year honoring his fellow Negro Leaguers, as many of them were deceased. O'Neil died a short time later in December of 2006, and was posthumously honored by the Hall of Fame in October 2007 with the award given in his name (a pathetic attempt by the Hall of Fame who should have elected him instead).

Finally, I cannot justify electing any of the Commissioners of Baseball to the Hall of Fame. It seems that the more corrupt they were, the longer they served; and the more good they tried to do, the quicker they were ousted. Pathetic!

People worthy of being honored by the Hall of Fame:

Negro Pioneers:
-William White : Grays 1B - First African-American to play in the Major Leagues
-Octavius Catto : Promoted the all-black Pythians team to the National Association
-Connie Morgan : Clowns 2B - Last woman to play in the Negro Leagues
-Welday Walker : Blue Stockings - Teammate of his brother Moses Walker
-Frank Leland : Owner, manager, and player - Formed Union Baseball Club, Leland Giants

Women:
-Helene Britton : First female owner - Cardinals 1911-16
-Edith Houghton : First female Scout - Phillies 1946-52
-Justine Siegal : First female coach - Brockton Rox (Minors) 2009
-Betty Caywood : First female broadcaster - Athletics 1964
-Marie Brenner : First female Baseball writer - Red Sox 1979 (Boston Herald)
-Jackie Mitchell : AA pitcher in an exhibition against the Yankees who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Had her contract voided by Commisioner Landis a few days later.
-Ila Borders : Pitcher in Independant League
-Tammy Holmes : Outfielder in Independant League
-Mildred 'Babe' Didrikson Zaharias : Pitched exhibition games against Major League teams

Women Umpires:
-Amanda Clement : First paid female umpire
-Bernice Gera : First professional female umpire
-Pam Postema : First woman to umpire Spring Training games
-Christine Wren
-Theresa Cox
-Ria Cortesio
I believe this is how male Umpires should be honored, not with membership in the Hall of Fame. I would not know which male Umpires are worthy of honoring, however all female Umpires should be honored along with female players and pioneers.

Pioneers:
-Philip Wrigley : Founder of the AAGPBL
-Patrick Powers : Founder of the NAPBL (the Minor Leagues)
-Curt Flood : Fought Baseball's Reserve Clause

Players with Disabilities:
-Pete Gray : One arm. Outfielder
-Bert Shepard : One leg. Pitcher for one MLB game
-Jim Abbott : One hand. Pitcher
-Hugh Daily : One hand. Pitcher
-Mordecai 'Three Finger' Brown* : Three fingers on pitching hand
-Vincent 'Bo' Jackson : Hip replacement. Outfielder
-Jim Mecir : Two club feet. Pitcher
-William 'Dummy' Hoy : Deaf. Outfielder
-Luther 'Dummy' Taylor : Deaf. Pitcher
-Charles 'Chick' Hafey : Eyesight problems fron sinus condition. Outfielder
-Ron Santo : Diabetes. Third Baseman
-John Hiller : Heart Attack. Pitcher
-Jimmy Piersall : Bipolar. Outfielder
-Jim Eisenreich : Tourette's Syndrome. Outfielder
-Grover 'Pete' Alexander* : Epilepsy. Pitcher
-Tony Lazzeri : Epilepsy. Second Baseman

Players who died while active in MLB:
-Thurman Munson : Yankees C
-Ray Chapman : Indians SS
-Darryl Kile : Astros/Cardinals P
-Charles 'Chick' Stahl : Red Sox OF
-Lyman Bostock : Twins OF
-Jake Daubert : Dodgers/Reds 1B
-Ross Youngs : Giants OF
-Ed Delahanty* : Phillies OF
-Addie Joss* : Indians P
-Roberto Clemente* : Pirates OF