Veterans Committee to Consider Santo and Hodges for Baseball Hall of Fame

Veterans Committee to Consider Santo and Hodges for Baseball Hall of Fame
John Nestor

Cooperstown, NY

Ron Santo and Gil Hodges headline a group of candidates for the National Baseball Hall of Fame that will be considered on a Veterans' Committee ballot representing the Golden Era of the sport from 1947-72, it was announced Thursday.

Santo, a third baseman for the Cubs, and Hodges, the first baseman for the "Boys of Summer" Brooklyn Dodgers, are on a 10-man ballot that includes players, an owner and a general manager.

Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer, White Sox first baseman Minnie Minoso, Twins outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitchers Jim Kaat, Allie Reynolds and Luis Tiant, who all played for multiple teams are on the ballot along with Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley and general manager Buzzie Bavasi.

The 16-member Veterans' Committee will meet on Dec. 4 in Dallas ahead of the Winter Meetings. The inductions are slated for July 22 in Cooperstown, N.Y. As in any election to the Hall, a 75 percent vote is needed, which in this case is 12 votes.

A Cubs standout, Santo died from the complications of diabetes and cancer in 2010. Santo was a National League All-Star nine times, who had 342 home runs, 1,331 RBI, a .277 lifetime batting average and five Gold Gloves.

Like fellow teammates Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins and Ernie Banks -- all enshrined in the Hall of Fame -- he never played in a single postseason game for the Cubs.

Hodges played 18 seasons, 16 of them for the Dodgers in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles, and was an NL All-Star eight times.

Hodges finished with 370 homers, 1,274 RBI and a .273 batting average. He played in the World Series seven times, winning in 1955 and '59 with the Dodgers.

Members of the Golden Era Committee are Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Ralph Kiner, Tommy Lasorda, Juan Marichal, Brooks Robinson, Don Sutton and Williams; Major League executives Paul Beeston, Bill DeWitt, Roland Hemond, Gene Michael, and Al Rosen; and veteran media members Dick Kaegel, Jack O'Connell and Dave Van Dyck.