Which players, if any, have been voted into the Hall of Fame will be announced Monday night. But Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, who has an 85 percent prediction record, says 300-game winners Don Sutton and Phil Niekro are certain to make it this time around.
In the meantime, officials at the Cooperstown, N.Y., shrine are preparing for the flood of summer visitors with a new exhibit on African-American baseball history to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut.
Among the artifacts on display will be the letters of Hall of Fame baseball writer Wendell Smith, who was Robinson’s traveling companion during his historical rookie season.
“It’s a treasure,” reported Hall of Fame President Donald Marr.
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Smith’s papers were donated by his widow, Wyonella, and include correspondence between Smith and Robinson and exchanges between Smith and Branch Rickey, along with stories on that first season by Smith, who later worked in Chicago but then was employed by the Pittsburgh Courier.
According to Ted Spencer, the Cooperstown curator, the “Knickerbocker Ball,” from the early 1840s, also will be on display for the first time. Spencer says it’s a “Trophy Ball,” given to the winning club, painted with the final score and the names of the participating teams.
Other new acquisitions include the Cubs uniform shirt worn by Rogers Hornsby, and Dick Allen’s 1973 White Sox jersey. Also 347 sheet music items have been donated by Franklin and Margaret Steele of Philadelphia. An assortment of memorabilia from the 1996 World Series champion New York Yankees has been received and will be shown.
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There will be a two-day owners meeting, Jan. 14-16 in Scottsdale, Ariz. The principal items on the agenda are the formation of a commissioner’s search committee and the placement of the two new expansion teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Ray Devils. Arizona is expected to go into the National League, Tampa Bay into the American.
The expansion draft will be held in November. The Arizona and Tampa clubs, if they expect to pluck a plum or two. hereby are forewarned. The last two expansion clubs, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies, didn’t get a whole lot for their dough. Florida has only three expansion players left, the Rockies seven–from original selection pools of 36 players.
As to the selection of a new commissioner, I continue reading that Bud Selig, the longtime interim commissioner, wants to roll over for the traditional five-year term. It would come as a surprise to this reporter. Whatever, trying to guess the identity of the new commissioner is like trying to win the lottery.
Still, one name I keep hearing is Paul Beeston, a longtime executive with the Toronto Blue Jays. He sounds good to me–knows the game, knows the perils of running a club and knows how to laugh. He is also a heavy-duty cigar smoker. He gave me a cigar two years ago, and I have been upset about it ever since because it collided with my ethics.
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From the beginning, which began in 1876 when the Cubs won the first National League pennant, managers have been aware of the necessity of having their pitchers strengthen their legs in spring training. Mile and 2-mile runs have not been uncommon, but Don Baylor, the Colorado dugout wizard, has come up with a novel twist.
He has instructed Frank Funk, his pitching coach, that during spring training all the club’s pitchers must run a 7-minute mile. It may be the first time a clock will be used. Those who beat the time can sit; those who don’t will have to run every day–even if they drop.
Baylor is understandably concerned. In the last two years, the Rockies have had only six complete games and last season they were outscored 144-101 in the eighth inning. While he’s at it, Baylor should have his players take their gloves to bed with them. They were next-to-last in fielding.