 |
| Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat, 1966. 55 years later, they'll be entering the Baseball Hall of Fame together. |
On Sunday, the Baseball Hall of Fame added 6 new members: Bud Fowler, Buck O’Neil, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso, and Tony Oliva. In my most recent blog post, I went through the ballots for the Early Baseball and Golden Days Eras. The Early Baseball Committee elected Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neil, two Negro Leagues stars. I will admit I don’t know much about Bud Fowler, but I’m thrilled that Buck O’Neil got in.
The Golden Days Era Committee elected four players: Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso, Jim Kaat, and Tony Oliva. When this committee last met in 2014, they pitched a shutout and elected no one. Electing Hodges, Minoso, Kaat, and Oliva is huge. This committee just elected 4 of the best players who weren’t in the Hall of Fame. All 4 have compelling cases for induction, and I’m very glad they got in.
I’m glad Gil Hodges finally got in, after so many years. Hodges received 50% or more of the vote in 11 of the 15 years he was on the BBWAA ballot, so it’s very odd that it took him so long to get in. Minoso was one of the best players in the American League during the 1950’s, and baseball’s first Cuban star.
While Hodges died in 1972, and Minoso passed away in 2015, the Golden Days Era Committee wisely decided to vote in 2 players who are thankfully still alive: Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva. I’m a Twins fan, so I’ve wanted Kaat and Oliva to get in for a long time. The knock on Kaat was that he was merely a “compiler,” not a truly dominant starting pitcher. And Jim Kaat would agree with you on that. But he stuck around for 25 seasons and won 283 games. If there had been 2 Cy Young Awards handed out in 1966, instead of just one, Kaat surely would have won in the AL award, as he led the league with 25 wins. Kaat also lead the AL in starts, complete games, and innings pitched. But since there was only one Cy Young Award in 1966, it inevitably went to the masterful Sandy Koufax, in his final season. Kaat’s longtime teammate on the Minnesota Twins, Tony Oliva, finally received the call this year. Like Minoso, Oliva was also from Cuba. Oliva was a superstar from 1964-1971, until a knee injury basically ended his career. Had it not been for the adoption of the DH in 1973, Oliva most likely would have retired. He was still a good hitter, but not quite the same dangerous one he had been in his prime. And in his prime Tony O was very good indeed. Oliva led the AL in hits 5 times, doubles 4 times, led in slugging and total bases once each, and won 3 batting titles. Had he not been injured, Oliva most likely would have reached the 3,000 hit milestone. As it turned out, Oliva didn’t even reach 2,000 hits. From 1964 through 1971, Oliva finished in the top 3 in batting average every year except for 1967, when he finished 8th. That’s an impressive run. Despite the fact that Oliva basically only appeared in the top ten of AL statistics from 1964-1971, his run was so impressive that he still outperforms the average Hall of Famer in “Black Ink” (when a player leads the league in a category) and “Gray Ink” (when a player finishes in the top ten of the league in a category). Oliva’s Black Ink score is 41. The average Hall of Famer is 27. Oliva’s Gray Ink score is 146. The average Hall of Famer is 144. An impressive career indeed.
Once again, just like in 2014, Dick Allen fell one vote short of getting inducted. It’s too bad that Allen didn’t get elected this time, but I’m very happy that Hodges, Kaat, Minoso, and Oliva are all getting in.
