Posted on 11/22/2005 10:36:08 AM PST by Charles Henrickson
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) -- Minnie Minoso and Buck O'Neil were among 39 candidates selected by a screening committee to appear on special Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues ballots for election to the Hall of Fame.
The Hall said Monday that a 12-man selection committee will meet Feb. 27 in Tampa, Fla. Thirty people will be on the Negro leagues ballot and nine on the pre-Negro leagues ballot, and to gain election a candidate must receive at least 75 percent of the ballots cast.
The screening committee considered 94 candidates recommended by Hall of Famers, historians and fans. Former commissioner Fay Vincent chaired the screening committee but did not vote, leaving the selections to specialists Adrian Burgos, Dick Clark, Larry Hogan, Larry Lester and Jim Overmyer, who were appointed by the Hall's board of directors in July.
"The final ballots represent players, managers, executives and builders who are top-tier candidates and worthy of review for consideration for election to the Hall of Fame," Vincent said in a statement.
After his Negro leagues career, Minoso played in the majors from 1949-64, making brief comebacks in 1976 and 1980. He hit .298 in the majors with 186 homers and 1,023 RBIs.
O'Neil did not play in the major leagues.
The nine pre-Negro leagues candidates are Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Home Run Johnson, Jose Mendez, Spot Poles, Dick Redding, Louis Santop, Ben Taylor and Sol White.
The 30 Negro leagues candidates are Newt Allen, John Beckwith, William Bell, Chet Brewer, Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Bill Byrd, Andy Cooper, Rap Dixon, John Donaldson, Sammy Hughes, Fats Jenkins, Dick Lundy, Biz Mackey, Effa Manley, Oliver Marcell, Minoso, Dobie Moore, Alejandro Oms, O'Neil, Red Parnell, Alex Pompez, Cum Posey, George Scales, Mile Suttles, Candy Jim Taylor, C.I. Taylor, Cristobal Torriente, JL Wilkinson and Jud Wilson.
The selection committee that will vote includes Todd Bolton (Latin America), Greg Bond (19th century), Adrian Burgos (Latin America), Dick Clark (Negro leagues), Ray Doswell (overall knowledge) Leslie Heaphy (women's history, Negro leagues), Larry Hogan (overall knowledge), Neil Lanctot (Negro leagues eastern teams), Larry Lester (Negro leagues), Sammy Miller (Eastern and Western teams), Overmyer (Eastern teams and 19th century) and Robert Peterson (overall knowledge).
Each of the voters will select "yes" or "no" for each candidate, a different procedure than used in the regular Hall ballot, in which eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America can select up to 10 players.
The commissioner's office gave the Hall a $250,000 grant in July 2000 to start a study on the history of blacks in baseball from 1860-1960.
The Negro leagues committee and the old veterans committee elected 18 men from the Negro leagues from 1971 until the old veterans committee was abolished after the 2001 vote: Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Ray Dandridge, Leon Day, Martin DiHigo, Bill Foster, Rube Foster, Josh Gibson, Monte Irvin, Judy Johnson, Buck Leonard, Pop Lloyd, Satchel Paige, "Bullet" Joe Rogan, Turkey Stearnes, Hilton Smith, Willie Wells and "Smokey" Joe Williams.
The 2006 BBWAA ballot will be announced Nov. 29 and results on Jan. 10.
As far as other Negro League players in the HOF, I think most all the deserving ones are already in.
Baseball ping.
A definite "yes" to both Minnie and Buck!
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