By BARRY LEWIS Sports Writer on Dec 5, 2011, at 6:47 PM Updated on 12/05 at 7:05 PM
PRO BASEBALL
Former Oklahoma State lefty Tyler Lyons will make his major league debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday at San ...
The San Diego Padres have signed former Booker T. Washington outfielder Mike Wilson to a minor league contract and assigned ...
Former Tulsa Drillers are coming and going all over the place in the majors today.
Colorado called up pitcher Rob Scahill ...
It appeared this could be the year that Oklahoma native Allie Reynolds would finally be elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame.
Reynolds, the ace pitcher on the New York Yankees' five consecutive World Series champions from 1949-53, only missed by one vote in the last previous Veterans Committee election that he was eligible for in 2008.
However, not only did Reynolds not get elected to the Hall of Fame when the Golden Era Committee announced its voting on Monday, but he was rejected by a stunning margin. receiving less than three votes from the 16-man committee who voted on participants from 1947-72.
Members of the Golden Era Committee included Hall of Fame players Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Billy Williams, Al Kaline, Ralph Kiner, Tommy Lasorda and Juan Marichal; Major League executives Pat Gillick, Paul Beeston, Bill DeWitt, Roland Hemond, Al Rosen and Gene Michael; and media members Dick Kaegel, Dave Van Dyck and Jack O'Connell.
Although the panel has changed, it is puzzling how Reynolds could go from being good enough to be only one vote away three years ago to not even close this year.
Reynolds, who died in 1994, was dominant in a relatively short career from 1942-54. He helped the Yankees win six World Series in his nine seasons with them. Reynolds had a 182-107 career record and sacrificed a chance for more wins by willing to be used as a reliever to help the Yankees win world titles.
Reynolds, known as the `Superchief' and a six-time all-star, was one of the best big-game pitchers in baseball history. His World Series career record was 7-2 with three saves. He also could hit, going 8-for-26 in his Series career.
In 1951, he pitched two no-hitters and was the Hickox pro athlete of the year.
Chicago Cubs fans can rejoice, however, as Ron Santo, their third baseman from 1960-73, was the only player elected, receiving 15 of 16 votes. It is sad that Santo could not have been elected before he died last December.
A memorable moment for me from watching Santo play came in the first regular-season game I ever attended when he socked a winning homer off another Hall-of-Famer, Steve Carlton, in 1971.
Santo deserved to make it, but so did another third baseman from that era, Ken Boyer, who had virtually an identical career except that he won a World Series and an MVP award for the St. Louis Cardinals. Boyer, who managed the Tulsa Oilers from 1974-76, also received less than three votes.
Jim Kaat, who had 283 major league wins, also would have deserved election but fell two votes short of the 12 needed. Also narrowly missing were Gil Hodges and Minnie Minoso with nine votes each and Tony Oliva with eight.
Reynolds, Kaat and Boyer deserved a better outcome. Perhaps that will come with different voters in 2014.
-- Barry Lewis
Only active print or digital subscribers of the Tulsa World are allowed to post comments on stories posted to Tulsaworld.com. After you fill out the form below and click submit, your comment will be published instantly online along with your screen name.
By clicking "Submit" you are agreeing to our terms and conditions.
