Humble Goose Enters Hall

Sunday afternoon we tuned into ESPN Classic in time to catch the baseball Hall of Fame inductions ceremonies. Actually we had to go back and forth to other things for a while while Bowie Kuhn's son droned on about his Dad. No offense, son of Bowie, but your Dad sucked as Commissioner.

A teary eyed Goose Gossage gave a very good and humble speech about his entrance to the shrine. He remembered teammates, including those gone, Thurman, Catfish, Bobby Ray...We were hoping they would show a quick shot of Reggie Jackson when Goose said that Dick Allen was the greatest player he ever played with. Goose credited Allen with taking him under his wing and helping him to adjust to life in the bigs. Funny, no one has ever said that about Reggie. Goose also did a little stumping for George Steinbrenner.

Great job too by Dick Williams, who we always felt was one of the best managers in baseball. Williams was quick to point out that he couldn't have made it as a manager in today's game. In his time, the manager was in control, there were no discussions, no questioning anything by the players. He certainly had success in every place he managed, the Impossible Dream season in Boston in '67, championships in Oakland, a pennant in San Diego, and a vastly improved Montreal Expos team in the late '70s.

We also remember when he nearly became Yankees manager, which meant we might never of had Billy Ball, but Charlie Finley wanted compensation and Kuhn wasn't too keen on it. Then again, could you imagine Williams trying to get along with George Steinbrenner?

It seems absurd that Goose had to wait this long to get into the Hall and even more absurd that Williams had to wait even longer.

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Vets Tab 5 for Fame

The Veterans Committee has spoken, and 5 people have been selected to enter the Hall of Fame this summer. Managers Dick Williams (who nearly became a Yankees manager in the '70s), and Billy Southworth, commissioner Bowie Kuhn (oh, did I loathe him back in the day), and owners Walter O'Malley and Barney Dreyfuss.

Among those passed over were player's union head Marvin Miller, manager Billy Martin, ump Doug Harvey, and general manager Buzzy Bavasi.

Voting Summary:

Managers/Umpires Ballot results (by vote percentage): *Billy Southworth (81.3%), *Dick Williams (81.3%), Doug Harvey (68.8%), Whitey Herzog (68.8%), Danny Murtaugh (37.5%) and Hank O'Day (25%). Davey Johnson, Billy Martin, Gene Mauch and Cy Rigler each received fewer than three votes. (* earned election to the Hall of Fame)

Executives/Pioneers Ballot results (vote percentage): *Barney Dreyfuss (83%), *Bowie Kuhn (83%), *Walter O'Malley (75%), Ewing Kauffman (41.7%), John Fetzer (33.3%), Bob Howsam (25%) and Marvin Miller (25%). Buzzie Bavasi, John McHale and Gabe Paul each received fewer than three votes. (*earned election to the Hall of Fame)

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