The Baseball Reliquary, Inc. has announced its list of fifty eligible candidates for the 2003 election of the Shrine of the Eternals, the membership organization’s equivalent to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This year marks the fifth annual election of the Shrine of the Eternals, which has become a major national component of the Baseball Reliquary, a Southern California-based organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history. The twelve individuals previously elected to the Shrine of the Eternals are, in alphabetical order, Moe Berg, Jim Bouton, Dock Ellis, Mark Fidrych, Curt Flood, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Minnie Minoso, Satchel Paige, Jimmy Piersall, Pam Postema, and Bill Veeck, Jr.
            The Shrine of the Eternals is similar in concept to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but differs philosophically in that statistical accomplishment is not a criterion for election. The Shrine’s annual ballot is comprised of individuals, from the obscure to the well-known, who have impacted the baseball landscape in ways that do not necessarily have anything to do with statistics.
            On a procedural level, the Shrine of the Eternals differs significantly from the Baseball Hall of Fame in the manner in which electees are chosen. While the Baseball Hall of Fame’s electees are selected in voting conducted by sportswriters or committees, the members of the Baseball Reliquary determine the annual Shrine electees, and membership is open to the public. A screening committee appointed by the Reliquary’s Board of Directors prepares a ballot consisting of fifty candidates on which the membership votes annually, with the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes gaining automatic election.
            Among the fifty eligible candidates for 2003, thirteen individuals appear on the Shrine of the Eternals ballot for the first time. The newcomers, in alphabetical order, are: Vida Blue, the hard-throwing Oakland Athletics phenom of the 1970s, whose roller-coaster career was scarred by battles with Charlie Finley and drug addiction; Ila Borders, the gender-breaking left-hander who pitched for three seasons in a men’s professional baseball league before retiring in 2000; Joe Charboneau, the former Cleveland outfielder who was baseball’s ultimate one-year wonder and whose many unusual talents included the ability to open beer bottles with his eye socket; Roberto Clemente, the Pittsburgh Pirates superstar and an almost mythical figure in his native Puerto Rico, who was killed in a plane crash in 1972 while carrying relief supplies for Nicaraguan earthquake victims; Joe Garagiola, a vivid storyteller who turned a mediocre playing career into fodder for celebrity status and who was instrumental in forming the Baseball Assistance Team (BAT), which provides financial support to needy former ballplayers; Ted Giannoulas, creator of the San Diego Chicken, the most recognized mascot in baseball for three decades; Bill James, the influential author and statistician whose annual Baseball Abstract and other important volumes challenged conventional baseball thinking and practices through an ingenious empirical analysis of baseball records; Dr. Frank Jobe, the orthopedic surgeon who revolutionized the medical care and prolonged the careers of baseball pitchers with his groundbreaking tendon transplant procedure now known as the “Tommy John” surgery; Dave Kingman, the 1970s-80s outfielder-first baseman who was as well known for his defensive lapses and disdain of sportswriters as he was for his tape-measure home runs; Jim Morris, the high school science teacher whose dream of pitching in the major leagues was realized at the improbable age of 35 and whose Cinderella story was recounted in the motion picture, The Rookie; Van Lingle Mungo, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ ace right-hander of the 1930s and one of the hardest throwers, drinkers, and carousers in National League history, who was later immortalized in Dave Frishberg’s classic song; Phil Pote, a pro baseball scout and a legend in the Los Angeles inner city, where he has coached and counseled young ballplayers, organized clinics, and raised money to renovate and construct ballfields since the 1950s; and Emilio Sabourin, a pioneer in the development of Cuban baseball in the 1870s who was imprisoned until death by Spanish officials for contributing baseball revenues to the Cuban independence movement.
            A complete list of all fifty candidates for the 2003 election of the Shrine of the Eternals appears below. Election packets, containing ballots and biographical profiles of all candidates, will be mailed to members on April 1, 2003. To be eligible to vote, all persons must have their $25.00 annual membership dues paid as of April 1, 2003.
            The three electees will be announced in May, with the Induction Day ceremony scheduled for Sunday, July 20, 2003 in Pasadena, California. In addition to the presentation of plaques to the 2003 inductees, this year’s ceremony will honor the recipients of the 2003 Hilda Award (named in memory of Hilda Chester and acknowledging the dedication of a deserving baseball fan) and the 2003 Tony Salin Memorial Award (bestowed annually on an individual who has been dedicated to preserving baseball history).
            For additional information on the Shrine of the Eternals, contact Terry Cannon, Executive Director of the Baseball Reliquary, at P.O. Box 1850, Monrovia, CA 91017; by phone at (626) 791-7647; or by e-mail at skpubs@earthlink.net.