2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era Managers/Executives/Umpires Ballot

I'll always picture Jim Leyland managing those great Pirates teams of the early 1990's.

Bill White, stellar first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1960's.

Okay, this is the longest and most boring name for a baseball Hall of Fame ballot. That being said, I’m glad that the managers, executives, and umpires are on their own ballot. It’s not fair to compare any of these guys to players. In this post, I’ll cover the eight men on this ballot. 

Cito Gaston: Gaston managed the Toronto Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. His overall record as a manager was 894-837, for a .516 winning percentage. Gaston was the first Black manager to win a World Series title. While Gaston is rightfully revered in Toronto, I don’t think 894 wins are enough to get into the Hall of Fame. 

Davey Johnson: Won 1,372 games over a 17-year managerial career. Johnson led the 1986 New York Mets (with Keith Hernandez!) to the World Series title. Johnson ranks 33rd all-time in manager wins, but his .562 winning percentage is higher than Hall of Fame managers Connie Mack, Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, Sparky Anderson, Bucky Harris, Walt Alston, Leo Durocher, Casey Stengel, Bill McKechnie, Tommy Lasorda, Dick Williams, Miller Huggins, and Wilbert Robinson. I’d be fine if Johnson gets into the Hall of Fame.  

Jim Leyland: Leyland won 1,769 games, good for 18th place all-time. His winning percentage was only .506, but almost every manager ahead of Leyland in wins is in the Hall of Fame, so he probably should be too. Plus, Leyland just seemed like a cool guy. 

Ed Montague: Montague was an umpire from 1976 to 2009. I really don’t know much about him, but sure, anyone who makes this ballot as an umpire probably deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. 

Hank Peters: I’ve never heard of Hank Peters before. He was a front-office executive for 42 years, working for the A’s, Orioles, and Indians. I don’t have any feelings about him getting into the Hall of Fame or not.  

Lou Piniella: Following a solid MLB playing career, including a selection as the 1969 AL Rookie of the Year, Piniella embarked on a successful managerial career, winning 1,835 games, good for 17th on the all-time list, just ahead of Jim Leyland. Again, almost everyone ahead of Piniella in games won is in the Hall of Fame, so he probably should be too. Piniella is famous in baseball card collecting for appearing on 3 different “Rookie Stars” cards for 3 different teams: 1964 with the Senators, 1968 with the Indians, and 1969 with the Pilots. Piniella never actually appeared in a regular season game with the Pilots, as he was dealt to the Royals at the end of spring training.  

Joe West: West holds the all-time record for games umpired: 5,460 over a 44-year career. Yes, Joe West should be in the Hall of Fame. 

Bill White: A stellar first baseman during the 1960’s, mainly for the St. Louis Cardinals, White was an 8-time All-Star and a 7-time Gold Glove winner. White was President of the National League from 1989 to 1994. During that time White was the highest-ranking Black executive in American sports. White’s career as an executive was only 5 years long, which makes me wonder if this is more of a kind of “lifetime achievement” honor. White was an excellent player, a longtime broadcaster for the New York Yankees, and then NL President, so his career is a varied tapestry. He’s certainly deserving of recognition, so I wouldn’t have a problem if he gets elected on this ballot.  

I have no idea how the voting is going to end up for this committee, but I think we’ll see at least two of these candidates elected to the Hall of Fame.  

Concert Review: The Surfrajettes and the Electric Six at the Turf Club

The Surfrajettes on stage at the Turf Club in Saint Paul, October 25, 2023. From left to right, Nicole Damoff, Sam Maloney, Shermy Freeman, and Sara Eve. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

A blurry photo of the Surfrajettes on stage, but I think it still looks cool. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Me and Shermy, co-lead guitarist of the Surfrajettes. (Photo taken by Shermy)

My signed copy of The Surfrajettes' 2022 album Roller Fink. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

In October, I saw the Surfrajettes and the Electric Six at the Turf Club in Saint Paul. I was there to see the Surfrajettes—I reviewed their 2022 album Roller Fink here, and I’ve become a big fan of their surf rock sound.

  

The Surfrajettes put on a great show and in person you can really see the guitar interplay between Shermy and Nicole, as they switch between playing lead and rhythm guitar. I was amazed at how well Shermy and Nicole are able to recreate their trademark 1960’s guitar sound in person. This lineup of the Surfrajettes also featured Sara Eve on bass and Sam Maloney on drums. Maloney’s fiery drumming propelled the band through the songs and was a highlight of the show.  

My only complaint about the staging of the show was that Shermy didn’t have her own spotlight, so she was left playing in the darkness. I’m not sure how the Turf Club didn’t understand that the co-lead guitarist should maybe have her own spotlight. But oh well.  

The Surfrajettes’ set list featured a mix of songs from Roller Fink like “Warm Up,” “Roxy Roller,” and the title track, as well as some songs that have only appeared on their singles like the Halloween song “Banshee Bop” and a great arrangement of the Peruvian song “El Condor Pasa.” The crowd really got into two of their cover versions the Blondie disco classic “Heart of Glass” and Britney Spears’ “Toxic.”  

The Electric Six were fine, but they really didn’t do anything for me. I confess that I didn’t do any research on them before the show, so I’m really not familiar with their music. And the problem with not knowing the songs at a rock show is that you won’t be able to understand the lyrics, so it’s not like you can get much sense of what a song is about. The Six were down a member, as they were without their keyboardist. I found the Electric Six an odd pairing with the Surfrajettes, as the Six just had so much “dude” energy. The Electric Six did play a cool cover version of “Eye in the Sky,” the Alan Parsons Project hit.  

The Surfrajettes are known for wearing matching outfits on stage, and for the show at the Turf Club on October 25th, they wore their “angel” outfits, complete with halos. It was a fun touch for the show. After their set, I bought the Surfrajettes LP Roller Fink and got it signed by all four members of the band. I also got a selfie with Shermy. (She took the photo, so it actually turned out well. I’m terrible at taking selfies.) Since I saw the Surfrajettes last month, they’ve already announced another tour, and they will be coming back to the Turf Club in March 2024. I already have my ticket for the show. If you want to see a fun concert by a group that has great interplay among its members, go see the Surfrajettes.