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Hall of Fame Class 26 – The Big Hurt is the Big Happy! Unanimous Choice Is Joined by Four Others |
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Frank Thomas – “The Big Hurt”
Don Drysdale
Bill Terry
Chuck Klein Joe “Ducky” Medwick |
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With a strong turnout of 86% of the
eligible ballots cast, voting for the TCBA
Players’ Hall of Fame Class 26 concluded this week with members
overwhelming the ballot box with unanimous votes for Frank Thomas. The Big Hurt
joins Babe Ruth, Mel Ott, Stan Musial and Ted Williams as the only five offensive
players to be elected unanimously, along with pitchers Randy Johnson and Early Wynn. Joining Thomas as he
enters the hallowed hall will be Don Drysdale, Chuck Klein, Joe Medwick and Bill Terry. Unanimous selection Frank Thomas spent his entire
career with the Beacon Braves, joining the club in
1991 as a $155,000 rookie. His impact was immediate, leading the Braves to
five post-season appearances, including Division crowns in 1995 and 2006.
Thomas’ combination of power and on base prowess made him a potent weapon
throughout his 18-year career. Unlike Thomas, Don Drysdale was an unheralded
rookie. After partial-season try-outs with South Starrucca, Norfolk and
Sacramento, Drysdale signed a 1-year deal with Hyde Park in 1958, rolling up
a 17-5 record for that season’s league champions. That success launched Drysdale’s
career in earnest. He signed on with Craig Shifflett’s Cleveland
Spiders in 1959, where he happily remained for the next twelve seasons.
The Spiders made five trips to the post-season during Drysdale’s career,
including a league championship in 1969. Among many of Drysdale’s career
statistic, perhaps the most revealing is this: he won 214 games and tossed
214 complete games, the 12th-most all-time in TCBA. After a brief try-out with Bradenton, Bill Terry signed on with Jeff Sajdak’s Siouxland group in
1925. Over the next twelve seasons, the lefty swinging Terry collected 2340
hits with a batting average in excess of .350,
establishing himself as one of the league’s premier hitters. The Terry-led
Explorers made five trips to the post-season as Gorney
Division winners, including three consecutive pennants in 1928-1930. In the
1934 World Series loss to Hyde Park, Terry batted an amazing .484 in the six
games, one of the greatest World Series performances in TCBA history. Another left-handed batter, Chuck Klein demonstrated his might
for fifteen seasons with Bob Wood’s Bradenton
Buckeyes. In his first full season in TCBA, Klein led the league with 210
RBI, and then collected 200 more the next season. He helped lead the Buckeyes
to three Gorney Division pennants and a trip to the
World Series in 1935. Klein batted .350 in that series, a 6-game loss to Larry
Smith’s Mimosa Mirthmakers. Klein not only hit for
average, he also belted 259 career home runs, AND he
even pitched in 55 games for the Buckeyes in 1941-1942. Batting
from the right-side, Joe Medwick was the primary force in the Kilkenny lineup for eleven seasons, leading Mike Kane’s
Gaelics to a league crown in 1938. Prior to the
1944 season, with a diminished power stroke, Ducky was traded to Bradenton. However,
there was still potency in his bat; Medwick helped
Bob Wood’s crew win a Gorney Division pennant in
1947 and claim a league championship in 1948. Six
other players received votes in this recent election, with only Bonds,
Shilling and Vernon assured of appearing on a future ballot. Voting
for Class 27 will be held later this year. The vote totals for Class 26 are
listed below: Class 26 Voting Totals:
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Appeared on the list for the final time. Source: TCBA Encyclopedia |
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