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Hall of Fame Class 24 – It Is Unanimous – Mel Ott Marches into the
Hall of Fame Five Other All-Time Greats Also Honored |
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Unanimous- Mel Ott
Hank Greenberg
Carl Hubbell
Red Rufffing & Lefty Grove
Gabby Hartnett |
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With 87% of the eligible ballots cast,
voting for the TCBA
Players’ Hall of Fame Class 24 concluded last week with members overwhelming
the ballot box with votes for Mel
Ott. The Waukesha
slugger collected 100% of the votes cast, eclipsing all other Hall of Fame
members except for the great Babe Ruth,
the only other unanimous choice. And the unanimous honor is well-deserved.
Ott is without doubt one of the greatest TCBA players ever. His name does not
just appear on the all-time lists; it’s near the top of nearly every category
- R-#7, H-#9, G-#19, AB-#15, HR-#19, 2B-#34, AB/HR-#42, RBI-#13,
OBA-#38, BB-#5. Mel faithfully played his entire 22-year
career for Ken Sajdak’s Waukesha Freemen, never
finishing above .500 for the season. In 1949,
a year after his retirement, the Freemen won the pennant, their first in 28
years. Joining Ott into the Hall of Fame will be
another slugger, Hank Greenberg,
who spent ten mighty seasons with Long Island
before a 3-year interruption for WWII. After fulfilling his military
obligation, Hank joined up with the Siouxland
group until his retirement after 1948. Greenberg appeared in the playoffs
three times, twice reaching the World Series. Just shy of unanimity (98.7%), Carl Hubbell ranks as one of the
greatest TCBA pitchers ever. Like Ott with his bat stats, Hubbell ranks high
in numerous key categories - W-#21, ShO-#29,
ERA-#21, IP-#24, CG-#4, GS-#41. Carl was the pride of Mimosa,
accumulating 232 of his career wins with the Mirthmakers.
Hubbell appeared in five postseasons, but his 1935 heroics are legend in
Mimosa. After going 25-7 during the regular season, Carl won two semi-final playoff
starts, sending Mimosa to the World Series. Hubbell followed that by starting
and winning three World Series games, giving Larry Smith his 2nd league
championship since 1921. Teammates
Lefty Grove (92.5%) and Red Ruffing (85%) join Hubbell in
the Pitchers’ wing of the Hall of Fame. Grove spent his entire career with
the Portsmouth/Chesapeake
franchise, amassing 260 wins over his 17-year career, eclipsing 20 wins in
five consecutive seasons from 1929 to 1933. Lefty led his team to seven
playoff appearances, including five World Series, compiling a 10-5 post-season
record, and earning two championships in 1933 and 1940. Red Ruffing shared
mound duties with Grove for 17 seasons, before moving on to Bergen following
WWII. Ruffing totaled 261 wins, one more than his pal Grove. Together they
created a mighty one-two punch that dominated opponents for nearly two
decades. Now, they once again work together as they enter the Hall of Fame. Continuing a trend of recognizing the value
of catchers, TCBA voters opened a spot on the wall for backstop Gabby Hartnett. Signed by Gary Sibley’s
Wilderness club in 1923, Hartnett quickly
established himself as the premier catcher of his generation. Gabby appeared
in over 1900 games, all for Wilderness, ending his career with a .316 batting
average, including a remarkable .401 average in 1936. Ten
other players received votes in this recent election, with only Ernie
Lombardi and Lou Boudreau assured of appearing on a
future ballot. Voting
for Class 25 will be held in later this month. The vote totals for Class 24
are listed below: Class 24 Voting Totals:
·
Appeared on the list for the final time. Source: TCBA Encyclopedia |
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