Hall of Fame class chooses logos
— -- Greg Maddux and Tony La Russa will not have any logos on the caps of their Hall of Fame plaques.
The decision was announced Thursday by the Hall, which said Joe Torre's plaque will have the logo of the New York Yankees.
Plaques for Tom Glavine and Bobby Cox will have Atlanta Braves logos, and Frank Thomas' will have the logo of the Chicago White Sox.
Of the 300 previous Hall members, 86 have caps with logos and 42 don't have caps.
Maddux said he felt good about the decision because he spent so much time in Chicago and Atlanta.
"I spent half my career in Chicago and half my career in Atlanta," Maddux said Thursday after working with some of the Texas Rangers' prospects at a winter camp in Arlington, Texas. "I came up a Cub. I played there for six years [and] went back for six more. I was in Atlanta for 11 years. So it comes out to about the same amount of time in both cities. I love both places.
"Obviously, I feel like I had more success as a Brave. We did get a World Series there. But I kind of came up a Cub. For me, I couldn't pick. I really couldn't. Both places mean so much to me personally, to my family. I couldn't pick. So I'm going to go in neutral, I guess."
La Russa managed the Chicago White Sox (1997-86), Oakland (1986-95) and St. Louis (1996-11), winning World Series titles in 1989, 2006 and '11.
"The Chicago White Sox gave me my start in the game as a big league manager for my first eight seasons in my 33-year managerial career," La Russa said. "In Oakland, we recorded four first-place finishes in 10 years, winning three pennants and a World Series. And in St. Louis, our clubs won three pennants and two titles in 16 years. It's the totality of the success of each of those three teams that led me to Cooperstown, so I am choosing to not feature a logo so that fans of all clubs can celebrate this honor with me."
The Hall of Fame works with the players to determine what logo, if any, fits best on the plaque.
"For those whose careers were built significantly among multiple teams, not having a team logo is equally acceptable," said Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, in a release. "Regardless of the selection, a Hall of Famer belongs to every team for which he played or managed, as well as every fan who followed his career."
Decisions were relatively simple for the others.
Glavine pitched for the Braves from 1987 to 2002 and in '08, spending 2003-07 with the Mets.
Choosing the Braves was easy for Glavine, who said he knew it had to be a tough decision for Maddux because of his time with the Cubs. Still, Glavine is surprised about Maddux choosing no logo.
"It still was a lot of fun for me to be his teammate," Glavine said before the annual dinner of the Boston chapter of the BBWAA.
Cox managed the Braves from 1978 to '81, managed Toronto from 1982 to '85, then returned to Atlanta as general manager. He became the Braves' manager again in 1990 and stayed through 2010, leading Atlanta to 14 straight division titles and a World Series championship in 1995.
Thomas was with the White Sox from 1990-05, then split 2006-08 between Oakland and Toronto.
The six will be inducted during ceremonies on July 27.
Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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