The Baseball Reliquary has announced its list of fifty eligible candidates for the 2004 election of the Shrine of the Eternals, the membership organization’s equivalent to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This year marks the sixth 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 fifteen individuals previously elected to the Shrine of the Eternals are, in alphabetical order, Jim Abbott, Moe Berg, Ila Borders, Jim Bouton, Dock Ellis, Mark Fidrych, Curt Flood, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Marvin Miller, 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 2004, eighteen individuals appear on the Shrine of the Eternals ballot for the first time. The newcomers, in alphabetical order, are:

            Lee Allen, late historian of the Baseball Hall of Fame, pioneer researcher, and tireless chronicler of ballplayers’ lives;
            Billy Bean, contemporary major league outfielder who courageously came out of the closet and openly declared his homosexuality;
            Helen Callaghan, standout player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s;
            Joe Cambria, pioneering scout in the 1940s and ‘50s, among the first to sign players from Cuba and the Caribbean;
            Bernie Carbo, outfielder and pinch-hitter who in the 1975 World Series hit one of the most famous home runs in post-season play;
            Orlando Cepeda, “The Baby Bull,” San Francisco’s first home-grown hero and winner of the Rookie of the Year Award in 1958 and the MVP in 1967 for his role in the Cardinals’ World Championship season;
            Ed Delahanty, one of the 19th century’s greatest players, whose death under mysterious circumstances in 1903 remains one of baseball’s most enduring enigmas;
            Ernie Harwell, longtime announcer for the Detroit Tigers and one of baseball’s most endearing personalities;
            Ellis Kinder, superb pitcher for the postwar Boston Red Sox, whose excessive good-time escapades became the stuff of legend;
            Carl Mays, reviled for throwing the pitch that struck and killed Ray Chapman in 1920, among the game’s most tenacious and misunderstood competitors;
            Tug McGraw, happy-go-lucky screwballer whose “You Gotta Believe” attitude propelled the Mets and Phillies to championships in the 1970s and ‘80s;
            Enrique Oliu, blind Spanish-language broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays;
            Spotswood Poles, standout Negro League center fielder whose professional career spanned the years 1909-1923;
            Mickey Rivers, speedy leadoff hitter whose loosey-goosey attitude was a blessing and a curse throughout his big-league career;
            Lester Rodney, the first sportswriter for the Daily Worker, the house organ of the American Communist Party, and one of the most outspoken advocates for the integration of the major leagues;
            Joe Schultz, longtime baseball man who gained immortality in Jim Bouton’s Ball Four as the Budweiser-pounding manager of the Seattle Pilots;
            Bob Sheppard, whose long service as Yankee Stadium’s public address announcer has immortalized him as the “Voice of God;”
            Sol White, pioneer 19th-century black player whose most enduring contribution to the game was the 1907 publication of Sol White’s Official Base Ball Guide — the most important source for early information about black baseball.
            A complete list of all fifty candidates for the 2004 election of the Shrine of the Eternals follows. Election packets, containing ballots and biographical profiles of all candidates, will be mailed to members on April 1, 2004. To be eligible to vote, all persons must have their $25.00 annual membership dues paid as of April 1, 2004.
            The three electees will be announced in May, with the Induction Day ceremony scheduled for Sunday, July 18, 2004 in Pasadena, California. In addition to the presentation of plaques to the 2004 inductees, this year’s ceremony will honor the recipients of the 2004 Hilda Award (named in memory of Hilda Chester and acknowledging the dedication of a deserving baseball fan) and the 2004 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.