Evening star., 1939-01-02
From the
PRESS Box
Baseball Hall of Fame
To Have Additions
By JOHN LARDNER,
speciaI Correspondent of The Star.

BY JOHN LARDNER,
Special Correspondent of The Star.
NEW YORK, Jan. 2.-That's a
good collection-Ty Cobb . Babe
Ruth d. . Honus Wagner -. Christy
Mathewson . Walter Johnson i.
Napoleon Lajoie iris Speaker
-. Cy Young Grover Cleveland
Alexander. So far the Hall of Fame
Of Baseball has made no mistakes.
Sitting over ballot for 1899, you
owe it to those fellows to keep their
club exclusive No buns. No dead
beats. No run-of-themill ball
players. Well, as matter of fact,
since it takes IS per cent of the
baseball writer's vote to smuggle a
single hero into the new Valhalla
up at Cooperstown, N Y, the buns
are pretty we'll eliminated.
But ball players who are just
good-who are short of greatness in
one respect or another-ought not to
share those tablets with Cobb. Ruth,
Wagner, Matty, Johnson, Lajoie,
Speaker and Young
Last year 262 of us nominated
10 men apiece. OF the 1l9 names
mentioned. only one polled his fare
to the Hall of Fame And he be-
longed there. The National League
has known no greater right
pitcher no harder cooler workman,
than Grover Cleveland Alexander
What's more, and I think this should
count, old Pete was a character with
a good deal more color than the
average glass of water. Which is
natural enough, because he seldom
touched the stuff.
SisIer, Keller, Collins
Are in Forefront
Aleck was the ninth ball player
to find the way into the Hall of
Fame. If we elect only one this year,
It will make 10, good round num-
Der for baseballs centennial. Not
more than one or two are likely to
get there, anyway.
Those with the best chance are
George Sisler, Willie Keeler and
Eddie Collins. They trailed Alexan-
der in that order last year, and they
were closely punched, well ahead of
Rube Waddell, in fifth place. At
the same time, Rogers Hornsby, who
was strictly ineligible because he was
still playing, polled a strong illegal
dark-horSe vote. This year, the
Rajah may leap many places and
collar himself foothold in that hall
hope he does. He and Sisler and
Ed Walsh hold the first three places
on your correspondent ballot. I
never saw Willie Keeler play, and.
while Eddie Collins is a cinch to be
immortalized very soon, l think
Hornsby, Walsh and Sisler deserve
precedence.
II you voted strictly on last years
form, trying to make your ballot
representative, which seems like
silly idea. you would name Sisler,
Keeler, Collins, Waddell, Frank
Chance, Ed Delehanty. Walsh, John
ny Evers, Jimmy Collins and Rabbit
Maranville. know lot of players
I'll vote for before some of those.
The thing to do is vote EN- the way
you like em. For instance:
Hornsby-You could be wrong, but
not by much, when you call this
domineering and outspoken char
acter the greatest right-handed hit
ter OF all time. Besides which,
Hornsby is one of the games first
thinkers. He bets on the horses?
So what?
Walsh-For sheer willingness and
hard work. and brilliant hard work,
at that, large Edward had no equal,
and that goes for every McGinnity.
This gentleman was all pitcher.
Greatest First Bosemon
Label Put on Him
Sisler-The greatest first baseman
who ever lived. He could outhit
Chase and even Terry, and he could
match them in the field, and, what's
more, you never saw perfect grace
on a ball field till you saw Sisler.
Added item, brains.
Mordecai BroWn-One of base
balls foremost imagination grip
pers. The three-fngered miner had
every one in the country working
with him when he worked, except
a few haggling Matty addicts. He
had courage as we'll as world of
stuff.
Max Carey-You can give Cobb
everything else, but here was the
most scientific and efficient base
runner of them all. Also, the first
successful switch-hitter. Carey
batted an extra so percentage points
with his head
Ray Schalk-You can begin to tab
. great catcher when he's been a
great catcher more than IS years.
Schalk was the forerunner of Hart
nett and Cochrane, with more speed
than Hartnett and a better tempera-
ment than Cochrane.
Rube Waddell-How are YOU
going to leave him off? The great
est of all southpaws, and south
paw through and through.
Dickie Kerr-With Schalk and
Eddie Collins, the hero of baseball's
greatest crisis. 1919 And a fine.
game pitcher. too.
Wilbert Robinson-This would be
a nickel-plated hall of fame, and
not the genuine article, without
Robbie.
Chief Bender-Baseballs smart
est pitcher, and one of baseball's
best. AS McGraw and his Giants
used to say. Il hope that Indian
drops dead, God forbid
Give us an honest count, judge.
(Copyright 1939D