National Baseball Hall of Fame
"; global $wpdb; $rows = $wpdb->get_row( $query , ARRAY_A); if(is_array($rows)){ foreach ($rows as $key => $value) { $$key = $value; } }$address = $HomeCity.", ".$HomeState; echo "
Looked up address and found {$address}.
"; if($HomeCity<=""){return;} } else { $value_passed=true; $address = $_GET['address']; $FirstName = $_GET['FirstName']; } //print_r($_GET); $hometown_val = ($value_passed) ? "Location - ".$address : $FirstName."'s Hometown - ".$address; //echo "Address=".$address.""; $script = << SCRIPT; //echo strpos($address, ",")."
"; if(strpos($address, ",")!=0){echo $script;} ?>
| Year | Event |
| 1936 | The first five players were inducted into the Hall of Fame. These player were Ty Cobb (who received the most votes), Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner. |
| 1939 | On June 12th, the Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York. By the time of the opening, 25 players had been voted into the Hall. |
| 1950s | The Hall added a new wing to their building in 1950 and a gallery in 1958. |
| 1962 | Jackie Robinson was elected as the first African American member. |
| 1971 | Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige became the first Negro League player elected to the Hall. Within six years, Satchel was joined by eight other Negro League inductees. |
| 1973 | Roberto Clemente was elected as the first Latin-born player in the Hall. He is the only member since the Hall established their eligibility voting rules who did not have to wait the five years for eligibility after leaving baseball due to his untimely death on a mission to aid earthquake victims. |
| 1989 | The Hall celebrated its Golden Anniversary with the addtionsof the Fetzer-Yawkey wing which houses the Grandstand Theater. |
| 1990s | The Baseball Hall of Fame expanded greatly in this decade, adding to the Library and completing a research facility in 1994; opening the African American Baseball Experience in 1997; unveiling the Great American Home Run Chase (featuring bats used by record-breaking greats such as Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa) in 1998; and in 199 established the Barry Halper Gallery to allow for the exhibition of various baseball artcifacts on a ratating basis. |
| 2001 | The twelve millionth customer visited the Hall of Fame. |
| 2007 | The last Hall of Fame Game was played on Doubleday Field as was the custom on the day of the Induction of new members. The last game was supposed to be in 2008, but as is often the case in baseball, it was rained out. |
Members are selected for inclusion in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame by either the Baseball Writer’s Association Of America (BBWAA) or the Era Committee.
The BBWAA primarly selects players afor induction, though they also have selected a few honarary members who are not players. To be selected a player must have been active for 10 years and is not eligible for election until they have been out of baseball for 5 years. All BBWAA memebers with 10 contiguous years of BBWAA membership can vote. Typically this is 450 writers each year. To gain election to the Hall a player’s name must appear on 75% of the ballots cast.
In 1953, the Baseball Hall of Fame Committee on Baseball Veterans was established. It held elections each year to select players, managers, umpires, and executives no longer eligible for selection by the BBWAA. Election for people no longer eligible for selection by the BBWAA is now done by The Era Committee system comprised of four subcommittees with 16 members each dedicated to periods in baseball’s history.
- Early Baseball (1871–1949)
- Golden Days (1950–1969)
- Modern Baseball (1970–1987)
- Today’s Game (1988 and later)
Similar to election by the BBWAA, Era Committee selection is based on being picked on 75% (or 12 of the 16) ballots.
If you’ve been fortunate enough to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, would you please share your thoughts so others can enjoy your visit. Thanks.
Thoughts/Experiences