2014 Three Managers, Three Hall of Famers?

Three Managers, Three Hall of Famers?

Let’s start with how much harder it is to get in on this ballot than the writers’ ballot.  There’s only 16 voters and the 75 percent to get elected is still required, which means, obviously, 12 votes.  But here’s the catch–each voter is limited to five selections.  So, assuming everybody votes for all three managers (which I doubt), there’s only 32 total votes left to spread among the remaining nine men.  And there’s plenty of sentiment out there to right an incredible wrong and finally give Marvin Miller his rightful place in the Hall of Fame, an honor he should’ve received while he was alive.  Basically, what I’m saying here is that it doesn’t look good for the players.

Of the six players on the ballot, I think Tommy John and Steve Garvey will receive the highest number of votes.  I’ve been a Garvey advocate for a long time.  He was my Jack Morris during his time on the regular ballot.  Garvey was the premier first baseman in the National League in the 1970s.  To me, being the best player at your position in an entire league for a whole decade is Hall of Fame-worthy.  John is better known nowadays for having a surgery named after him, but his career lasted 26 years (due in large part to a certain medical procedure) and he won 288 games.

Neither one of those players will come close to getting in, though.  Again, the biggest question here is whether all three managers will be elected or not.  And if they’re not, which of the three will be left out.

It would be most fitting if Bobby Cox was inducted this year.  Greg Maddux will definitely be elected by the writers and Tom Glavine may be as well.  Along with John Smoltz, those two pitchers were at the heart of that Braves dynasty, and it would be pretty cool to see Cox go into Cooperstown with them.  He’s definitely going to be elected eventually.  Nobody’s ever going to do what he was able to do with the Braves again.  25 years with the same team.  14 straight division titles.  Five National League pennants.  Sure, Atlanta only won one World Series during his tenure, but that shouldn’t be held against him.

After all, Cox lost two of those World Series to Torre’s Yankees.  Torre and Steinbrenner almost seem like a Cooperstown package deal, but I think the likelihood of a Torre election is far greater than that of a Steinbrenner election.  Of course, it was Steinbrenner who brought Torre to the Yankees, and it proved to be the greatest move either of them ever made.  Four World Championships in his first five seasons as manager.  Four straight pennants from 1998-2001 and six in eight years from 1996-2003.  Not to mention 12 postseason appearances in 12 years with the Yankees, then two more in his first two years managing the Dodgers in 2008-09.  All this after a borderline Hall of Fame 18-year playing career.

I like Torre’s chances at election.  But I like Tony La Russa’s more.  He’s third all-time in wins, behind only managerial giants Connie Mack and John McGraw.  Two World Championships in St. Louis and one in Oakland, making him one of only two managers (along with Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson) to win a World Series in both leagues.  Six pennants during ridiculously successful stints with the A’s and Cardinals, as well as an ALCS appearance with the White Sox in 1983.  I think La Russa is the most likely candidate to be elected.

If there’s any justice in this world, Marvin Miller’s name will be announced as a Hall of Famer on Monday, and a member of his family will deliver the speech that Miller himself should’ve delivered in Cooperstown come July.  It’s an absolute travesty that he’s not in the Hall of Fame yet.  Because Marvin Miller has meant as much or more to the game of baseball as everyone who already has a plaque in Cooperstown.  In the past, it’s been mostly owners and other team executives voting on the Veterans Committee, and a lot of them had a lot of resentment towards Marvin Miller for the rights he earned the players.  And it’s a shame.  Well, there are only four owners/executives on the committee this year.  The rest is current Hall of Famers and a couple historians/writers.  They know how important Marvin Miller was to the game of baseball.  I hope they correct this egregious omission that’s gone on way too long.  No one belongs in the Hall of Fame more than Marvin Miller.  He missed by one vote the last time he was up for election in 2010.  Three years ago, he would’ve been around to celebrate.  It’s a shame that he won’t be able to if he gets that one more vote this year.

The most interesting figure in this group of 12 is Steinbrenner.  He was definitely larger than life and he definitely had that love him or hate him personality, but he was also one of the most influential owners in baseball from the time he purchased the Yankees in 1973 until his death in 2010.  Steinbrenner understood the business of baseball better than anybody, and he was the first to use free agency to his advantage in building back-to-back World Series winners in 1977-78.  Then there was the dynasty in the 90s.  In all, the Yankees won seven World Championships and 11 AL pennants under Steinbrenner.  He was also responsible for the creation of the YES Network and the construction of the New Yankee Stadium.

Steinbrenner fired Billy Martin so many times that the two are synonymous.  Martin’s also on the ballot, and it would be some sort of poetic justice if they went into the Hall of Fame together.  But I don’t think either one will.  At least not this year.

If I had a vote, my choices would be easy.  I wouldn’t vote for a single player.  I’d vote for La Russa, Torre, Bobby Cox, Marvin Miller and Steinbrenner.  As for the actual vote, I think La Russa and Torre will be elected, while Cox will just miss out.  And I’d love to see Marvin Miller elected, as well.  It’s not a slam-dunk, but I also like his chances.  Not one of these candidates deserves it more.