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. |