Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: TCBA Encyclopedia  TCBA Encyclopedia

Hall of Fame Class 24 –

It Is Unanimous – Mel Ott Marches into the Hall of Fame

Five Other All-Time Greats Also Honored

 

 

See the source image

Unanimous- Mel Ott

 

See the source image

Hank Greenberg

 

See the source image

Carl Hubbell

 

See the source imageSee the source image

Red Rufffing & Lefty Grove

 

See the source image

Gabby Hartnett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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:

Player

70% Needed

 

Ott,Mel

100.0%

Hubbell,Carl

98.7%

Grove,Lefty

92.5%

Greenberg,Hank

89.6%

Ruffing,Red

85.0%

Hartnett,Gabby

72.6%

 

 

 

 

Lombardi,Ernie

37.0%

Boudreau,Lou

30.0%

Gomez,Lefty*

18.4%

Schoendienst,Red*

17.0%

Hudson,Tim*

10.0%

Passeau,Claude*

9.4%

Fitzsimmons,Freddie*

8.6%

York,Rudy*

7.2%

Teixeira,Mark*

6.5%

Herman,Billy*

4.7%

 

·         Appeared on the list for the final time.

Source: TCBA Encyclopedia