The BASEBALL RELIQUARY Inc.
Baseball Reliquary Announces Candidates for
The Baseball Reliquary, Inc. has
announced its list of fifty eligible candidates
for the 2010 election of the Shrine of the
Eternals, the membership organization’s
equivalent to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This
year marks the twelfth annual election of the
Shrine, 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
thirty-three individuals previously elected to
the Shrine of the Eternals are, in alphabetical
order: Jim Abbott, Dick Allen, Emmett Ashford,
Moe Berg, Yogi Berra, Ila Borders, Jim Bouton,
Jim Brosnan, Bill Buckner, Roberto Clemente,
Steve Dalkowski, Rod Dedeaux, Jim Eisenreich,
Dock Ellis, Mark Fidrych, Curt Flood, Josh
Gibson, William “Dummy” Hoy, Shoeless Joe
Jackson, Bill James, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Roger
Maris, Marvin Miller, Minnie Minoso, Buck
O’Neil, Satchel Paige, Jimmy Piersall, Pam
Postema, Jackie Robinson, Lester Rodney,
Fernando Valenzuela, Bill Veeck, Jr., and
Kenichi Zenimura.
ROGER ANGELL (b. 1920)
– self-described baseball “reporter” whose
elegant and masterful prose, and remarkable
power of observation, on display for years
through his books and essays in The New
Yorker magazine, established a new standard
for baseball journalism.
STEVE BLASS (b. 1942)
– one of the National League’s top pitchers in
the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Blass inexplicably
lost his control after winning a career-high 19
games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1972; while
no definitive explanation has ever been given
for his sudden ineffectiveness, Blass was out of
baseball by 1975, and to this day pitchers who
have had success and then mysteriously could not
find the strike zone are referred to as having
“Steve Blass disease.”
JAY BUHNER (b. 1964)
– one of the most beloved and charismatic
ballplayers of his era, Buhner was a
right-handed power hitter for the Seattle
Mariners from 1988-2001, known as much for his
shaved scalp, goatee, free-spirited ways, and
occasional fielding miscues (hence his nickname
“Bonehead,” or “Bone” for short) as for his
dramatic home runs.
JEFFERSON BURDICK (1900-1963) –
often referred to as “the
father of card collecting,” Burdick amassed a
collection of 300,000-plus trading cards,
including over 30,000 baseball cards, for which
he developed a system of cataloging that remains
in use today; he eventually would donate his
collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York and remains a stellar example of the
baseball card collector as researcher and
scholar rather than speculator and celebrity
hunter.
HECTOR ESPINO (1939-1997)
– known as “the Babe Ruth of Mexico,” Espino
slugged over 450 home runs between 1962 and 1984
in the Mexican League, while steadfastly
refusing to play in the United States because of
the racism he encountered while playing in
Florida during the Civil Rights era; a true
national hero along the lines of Jackie Robinson
(his number 21 was retired by all Mexican
professional teams), he was admired by fans
throughout Mexico as much for his sense of pride
and loyalty for his country as for his
incomparable baseball skills.
EDDIE GRANT (1883-1918)
– the first major league ballplayer killed in
action during World War I, the Harvard-educated
Grant was a light-hitting infielder for the
Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and New
York Giants from 1907 to 1915; his unusual
academic pedigree stood out in an era when many
fellow players were barely literate, and his
bravery was honored by a legendary granite
monument that stood for decades in New York
City’s Polo Grounds.
CONRADO MARRERO (b. 1911) –
the elder statesman of Cuban baseball, the
diminutive 5-foot-7 Marrero was a great amateur
pitcher in his homeland before joining the
Washington Senators from 1950 to 1954; after
returning to Cuba, where he is reportedly the
last surviving major leaguer living on the
island, he taught baseball to children and
became a beloved goodwill ambassador for the
amateur game.
FRANK O’ROURKE (1916-1989)
– one of the greatest, albeit largely unknown,
baseball fiction writers of the post-World War
II era, O’Rourke authored gritty, highly
realistic short stories and novels that were
influenced by his ballplaying experiences (he
even worked out with the Philadelphia Phillies
in spring training in the late 1940s) and his
intimacy with the major leaguers he used for his
fictional characters.
PETE ROSE (b. 1941)
– the inimitable “Charlie Hustle” began his
assault on the record books in 1963 as the first
piece of what would become the Big Red Machine;
his prowess at hitting a baseball would be
matched only by his penchant for generating
controversy, and, in the eyes of many, his
eventual placement on baseball’s ineligible list
and banishment from the Hall of Fame made what
he had achieved between the white lines seem
irrelevant.
MAURY WILLS (b. 1932) –
single-handedly restoring the stolen base as a
potent offensive weapon with the Dodgers in the
1960s, paving the way for the even greater
stardom of Hall-of-Famers Lou Brock and Rickey
Henderson, Wills electrified the baseball world
by stealing 104 bases in his 1962 MVP season;
but his popularity and public acclaim came with
a steep price, as he would eventually battle
cocaine and alcohol addiction.
A complete list of all fifty candidates
for the 2010 election of the Shrine of the
Eternals follows. Election packets, containing
ballots and biographical profiles of all
candidates, will be mailed to Baseball Reliquary
members on April 1, 2010. To be eligible to
vote, all persons must have their minimum $25.00
annual membership dues paid as of March 31,
2010. |
THE SHRINE OF THE
ETERNALS
|
2010 Candidates |
|
1. Hank Aguirre (6) | 26. Mike "King" Kelly (3) |
2. Roger Angell (2) | 27. Effa Manley (12) |
3. Eliot Asinof (7) | 28. Conrado Marrero (New!) |
4. Billy Bean (8) | 29. Dr. Mike Marshall (5) |
5. Steve Blass (New!) | 30. Jocko Maxwell (2) |
6. Chet Brewer (11) | 31. Tug McGraw (7) |
7. Charlie Brown (3) | 32. "Nuf Ced" McGreevey (4) |
8. Jay Buhner (New!) | 33. Fred Merkle (4) |
9. Jefferson Burdick (New!) | 34. Manny Mota (3) |
10. Helen Callaghan (7) | 35. Frank O’Rourke (New!) |
11. Charles M. Conlon (9) | 36. Phil Pote (8) |
12. Dizzy Dean (10) | 37. Vic Power (2) |
13. Ed Delahanty (7) | 38. Dan Quisenberry (4) |
14. Buck Dent (2) | 39. J.R. Richard (11) |
15. Hector Espino (New!) | 40. Pete Rose (New!) |
16. Eddie Feigner (10) | 41. Rusty Staub (5) |
17. Lisa Fernandez (10) | 42. Casey Stengel (12) |
18. Rube Foster (12) | 43. Chuck Stevens (2) |
19. Ted Giannoulas (8) | 44. Luis Tiant (8) |
20. Eddie Grant (New!) | 45. Fay Vincent (9) |
21. Jim "Mudcat" Grant (6) | 46. Rube Waddell (12) |
22. Pete Gray (12) | 47. John Montgomery Ward (4) |
23. Ernie Harwell (7) | 48. Maury Wills (New!) |
24. Dr. Frank Jobe (8) | 49. Wally Yonamine (3) |
25. Charles "Pop" Kelchner (3) | 50. Don Zimmer (6) |