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Hall of Fame Class 23 – Al Simmons Near Unanimous Choice Waite Hoyt and Yogi Berra also Elected |
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Al Simmons
Waite Hoyt Yogi Berra
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With 91% of the eligible ballots cast,
voting for the TCBA
Players’ Hall of Fame Class 23 concluded last week with members
overwhelming the ballot box with votes for Al Simmons. The Kilkenny
slugger collected 99.5% of the votes cast, eclipsing all other Hall of Fame
members except the great Babe Ruth,
the only unanimous choice. Simmons was an absolute monster with the
bat, appearing in the Top 30 in seven separate categories, including a career
total of 2999 hits (#16). Simmons offensive prowess was instrumental in
leading the Gaelics to six playoff appearances and
two league championships (1930 and 1938.) In the 1930 series, Simmons went
9-for-24 to lead all batters with a .375 average. Voters also elected two other worthy
candidates, pitcher Waite Hoyt
(79.8%) and catcher Yogi Berra
(71.6%). Like Simmons, Hoyt and Berra were winners. Hoyt helped his Bergen Barflies to five post-season appearances and two
league championships (1922 and 1928), compiling a 7-1 record in nine
post-season starts. Yogi
was a fixture behind the plate for Sacramento,
helping the Solons to three play-off runs, including a pair of World Series
appearances. Seven
other players received votes in this recent election. Klein, Manusch, Medwick and Cuyler
received some support and will have at least one more try, while Averill,
Vaughan and Allen have exhausted their eligibility and will no longer appear
on a ballot. Voting
for Class 23 will be held in November 2020. The vote totals for Class 23 are
listed below: Class 23 Voting Totals:
·
Appeared on the list for the final time. Source: TCBA Encyclopedia |
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