From left are Ryne Sandberg in 2004 and Wade Boggs in 1999. Wade Boggs was overwhelmingly elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday Jan. 4, 2005, and Ryne Sandberg made it with just six votes to spare. (AP Photo/File)
Posted on 01/04/2005 11:45:59 AM PST by Gucho
Sports
Boggs, Sandberg Elected to Hall of Fame
13 minutes ago
By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK - Wade Boggs was overwhelmingly elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility Tuesday, and Ryne Sandberg made it with just six votes to spare on his third try.
selected by 474 of the record 516 voters who are 10-year members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
The 91.86 percent of ballots he received was the 19th-highest percentage in Hall history, and he became the 41st player elected on his first chance.
Sandberg, the 1984 National League MVP for the Chicago Cubs (news), was picked by 393 voters. He appeared on 76.2 percent of ballots, just above the 75 percent cutoff (387). Sandberg received 49.2 percent of votes in 2003 and got 61.1 percent last year, falling 71 votes short.
Reliever Bruce Sutter, appearing on the ballot for the 12th time, received 344 votes (66.7 percent), up from 301 last year but 43 shy of what was needed this time. He was followed by Jim Rice (307), Rich Gossage (285) and Andre Dawson (270).
Willie McGee, also on the ballot for the first time, received 26 votes, exactly at the 5 percent cutoff to avoid being dropped in future years. Darryl Strawberry, another first-time eligible, got six votes.
Pete Rose, ineligible for the ballot because of his lifetime ban from baseball, received nine write-in votes, six fewer than last year and his lowest total. Rose, who admitted last year that he bet on the Cincinnati Reds (news) while managing them in the late 1980s, has been written in on 239 of 6,687 ballots (3.6 percent) over 14 years.
He must be reinstated by late November to appear on the ballot in 2006, the final year he would be eligible.
Boggs, known for his array of pre- and postgame rituals, was a 12-time All-Star during an 18-year career, finishing with 3,010 hits.
He won batting titles in 1983 and from 1985-88, becoming the first player to win the AL batting championship in four straight years since Rod Carew from 1972-75. Boggs, who hit .300 or higher 15 times, finished with a .328 career average and was the only player in the 20th century with seven straight 200-hit seasons. He also became the first player to get 200 hits and 100 walks in four consecutive seasons.
A two-time Gold Glove winner at third base, Boggs played for the Red Sox from 1982-92, then spent five seasons with the New York Yankees (news), helping the team win the 1996 World Series (news - web sites) and riding a police horse around Yankee Stadium after the final victory.
His final two seasons were with his hometown Tampa Bay Devil Rays (news).
On Aug. 7, 1999, Boggs became the 23rd member of the 3,000-hit club, connecting off Cleveland's Chris Haney to become the first player to get No. 3,000 with a home run. After circling the bases, Boggs kissed home plate.
Sandberg was a nine-time Gold Glove second baseman and a 10-time All-Star. He hit 277 homers, the most by a second baseman at the time of his retirement, and led the NL with 40 in 1990. His .989 fielding percentage is the highest at the position.
Boggs and Sandberg will increase the Hall of Fame's membership to 260, of which 102 were selected by the BBWAA. Induction ceremonies are July 31 in Cooperstown.
Results of voting by the Veterans Committee will be released March 2. Gil Hodges, Tony Oliva and Ron Santo were among the 25 candidates on that ballot.
Among the players eligible for the first time on next year's BWAA ballot are Orel Hershiser, Will Clark and Dwight Gooden.
He also claimed to have been accidetnly run over by his wife in their driveway.
Then Bruce Sutter and Lee Smith get voted in next year.
Gossage and Sutter need to be in. They were premiere closers back when a save really meant something.
This is great news! I'm going to cook some chicken tonight to celebrate!
Dale Murphy should be in.
No. Not good enough for long enough. I rate Andre Dawson ahead of Dale Murphy, but I don't think the Hawk is even quite HOF worthy. The offensive standard for OF (and 1b) is much higher than for other positions.
"This is great news! I'm going to cook some chicken tonight to celebrate!"
:)
Alan Trammell is better than both of them - and, he was robbed of the 1987 MVP award.
If he played in NY, Boston, LA or Chicago, he'd be in for sure.
"Dale Murphy should be in."
Very good ballplayer with lots of talent.
Before a home game against San Francisco, Murph visited in the stands with Elizabeth Smith, a six-year-old girl who had lost both hands and a leg when she stepped on a live power line. After Murphy gave her a cap and a T shirt, her nurse innocently asked if he could hit a home run for Elizabeth. "I didn't know what to say, so I just sort of mumbled 'Well, O.K.,' " says Murphy. That day he hit two homers and drove in all the Braves' runs in a 3-2 victory.
"I can't imagine Joe Dimaggio was a better all around player than Dale Murphy."--Nolan Ryan
Paging Margo Adams
http://dee-nee.com/rbi/hallofshame.shtml
He should be in along with Jim Rice
Lifetime avg - .265
Lifetime homers 398
not seeing him as worthy of the hall (but a fine player regardless)
Huh? Murphy was nowhere near the RBI leaders in '78 or '80.
Murphy did have five excellent years--'82, '83, '84, '85, and '87--and two very good years, '80 and '86. But those "seven fat years" are offset by "seven lean years"--'78, '79, '81, '88, '89, '90, and '91. (I'm not even counting the mediocre little bits of seasons he played at the beginning and end of his career: '76-'77/'92-'93.)
Nice guy, nice player, but not enough. Again, I'd be intrigued to compare his numbers to Dave Parker, a near-contemporary who was a similar player.
Methinks he needed more than a good (great) 6 year stretch.
Minor correction: The little bit he played in '77 was very good, which gave him the opportunity then to become a regular in '78.
His eyesight failed him and that killed his career.
He struck out far too much and he was Mr. 6-4-3 GDP
But, he was also the most feared hitter of his day and there were few pitchers who were willing to hit him cuz he was one strong f-'n guy.
He probably needed 2-3 more years to make the stats look better.
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