Mazeroski, Smith Voted to Hall of Fame
T A M P A, Fla., March 6, 2001 -- Bill Mazeroski, who hit one of baseball'smost famous home runs, was elected to the Hall of Fame todayby the Veterans Committee, along with former Negro leagues playerHilton Smith.
Dick Williams, Gil Hodges, Dom DiMaggio and Marvin Miller werebypassed by the panel, down to 14 members because of Ted Williams'recent open-heart surgery. It took 75 percent — 11 votes — forelection.
"I'm pretty happy," said Mazeroski, who was at the site of thecommittee's meeting. "I don't really know what to say. I never,ever expected to be here. You dream of a lot of things. You want tobe in the big leagues. You want to make the All-Star game. You wantto be in a World Series.
"You want to do all those things, but you never dream of this.It's pretty exciting. I just hope I can live up to it."
Induction ceremonies will be held Aug. 5 at Cooperstown, N.Y.Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield were elected in January by theBaseball Writers' Association of America.
Home Run Won 1960 World Series
The Vets were allowed to pick up to four new Hall of Famers, onefrom each of four categories: former major leaguers, Negroleaguers, 19th century players and personnel, plus a composite ofmanagers, umpires, executives and Negro leaguers.
In 1992, Mazeroski's last year on the BBWAA ballot, he waslisted on 182 of 430 ballots, 42.3 percent. A player needed 323votes for election that year.
Mazeroski's homer at Forbes Field won Game 7 of the 1960 WorldSeries for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the New York Yankees. (For that and other special World Series memories, click here.)
He came within one vote of election last year, when, for thefirst time since 1993, the Vets did not select a former majorleaguer.
Mazeroski, a .260 hitter, was a seven-time All-Star and woneight Gold Gloves for the Pirates. He took part in a record 1,706double plays at second base, and many consider him the finestfielder ever at the position.
Smith, a teammate of Satchel Paige on the Kansas City Monarchs,died in 1983. He was 72-32 in 146 games from 1937 to 1948. His bestseason was 1941, when he went 10-0.
Joe Brown, a member of the Veterans Committee, originallyannounced the inductee as Milton Smith, who played in the Negroleagues from 1959-51 and spent one season with the Cincinnati Reds.
Williams Hoped for Nod
Dick Williams hoped to follow Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda and EarlWeaver, managers recently elected by the Veterans' panel.
Williams won two titles with Oakland and also took Boston andSan Diego to the World Series, joining Bill McKechnie as the onlymanager to do it with three teams.
Williams' career record was 1,571-1,451, including stints withCalifornia, Montreal and Seattle.
"Not to take anything away from Sparky, Tommy and Earl, but Ithink my numbers rank right up there with them," he said beforethe vote.
Among those on the Vets panel is John McHale, the Montrealexecutive who fired Williams in 1981.
Williams seemed to have enough support last year leading up tothe election. But about six weeks before the vote, he was chargedwith walking naked outside his hotel room in Fort Myers, Fla.
Williams spent the night in jail, and the bad publicity doomedhis chances. A special adviser to the Yankees, he stayed away fromtheir camp.
This spring, though, the 71-year-old Williams was back in town.
Hodges starred at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, hitting370 home runs, and managed the 1969 Miracle Mets to the WorldSeries title.
DiMaggio, the younger brother of the late Joe DiMaggio, hit .298in 11 seasons. He played in the Boston outfield with Ted Williams.
Miller was hired as executive director of the Major LeagueBaseball Players Association on March 5, 1966, and led a revolutionthat ended the reserve clause and created free agency and salaryarbitration, raising the average salary of major leaguers from$19,000 in 1967 to more than $2 million this year.