One of the baseball organizations I am most proud to be a member of is the Baseball Reliquary. \u00a0It is an organization truly dedicated to the character and characters of baseball – from the fans’ point of view. \u00a0With its passionate, but sometimes \u00a0irreverent approach to the national pastime, BBRT likes to think of the Reliquary as “Mardi Gras” for baseball fans. \u00a0 Each year, the Baseball Reliquary selects inductees to its Shrine of the Eternals<\/strong><\/span>, the Reliquary’s version of the\u00a0National\u00a0Baseball Hall of Fame. \u00a0A few of the Reliquary’s diverse list of past inductees include: National Baseball Hall of Famers Yogi Berra and Robert Clemente; fierce competitor Dock Ellis (who once threw a no-hitter while on LSD); maverick owner Bill Veeck, Jr.; Tommy John surgery pioneer Dr. Frank Jobe; and the San Diego Chicken. \u00a0This week, the Baseball Reliquary announced it 2014 Shrine of the Eternals electees. \u00a0That follows is the official press release – as well as some closing comments noting\u00a0non-elected\u00a0nominees that BBRT voted for (and why). For more on the Baseball Reliquary click here<\/a>. \u00a0I think you’ll enjoy the read.<\/p>\n

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DIZZY DEAN, DON ZIMMER, AND RACHEL ROBINSON<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

ELECTED TO THE SHRINE OF THE ETERNALS FOR 2014<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>The Board of Directors of the Baseball Reliquary, Inc., a Southern California-based nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history, is pleased to announce the sixteenth class of electees to the Shrine of the Eternals.\u00a0 The Shrine of the Eternals is the national organization\u2019s equivalent to the Baseball Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Dizzy Dean, Don Zimmer, and Rachel Robinson were elected upon receiving the highest number of votes in balloting conducted during the month of April 2014 by the membership of the Baseball Reliquary.\u00a0 The three electees will be formally inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals in a public ceremony on Sunday, July 20, 2014 at the Donald R. Wright Auditorium in the Pasadena Central Library, Pasadena, California.<\/p>\n

Of the fifty eligible candidates on the 2014 ballot, Dizzy Dean received the highest voting percentage, being named on 37% of the ballots returned.\u00a0 Following Dean were Don Zimmer with 33% and Rachel Robinson with 31%.\u00a0 Runners-up in this year\u2019s election included Bo Jackson (29%), Glenn Burke (27%), Sy Berger (26%), Effa Manley (25%), Charlie Brown (24%), Bob Costas (24%), Ernie Harwell (24%), Steve Bilko (23%),\u00a0 and Rocky Colavito (23%).<\/p>\n

<\/a>DIZZY DEAN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Elected to the Shrine of the Eternals in his fourteenth year on the ballot, hurler, free-spirit, and malapropster extraordinaire, Dizzy Dean (1910-1974), had a long and eventful life in baseball, both as a pitcher and a broadcaster.\u00a0 The son of an Arkansas sharecropper, Jay Hanna \u201cDizzy\u201d Dean signed in 1930 with the St. Louis Cardinals and spent the next two seasons in the minors, peaking with Houston in the Texas League in 1931.\u00a0 Promoted to the big club permanently in 1932, the boastful Dean quickly became the cornerstone of the Cardinals\u2019 rotation.\u00a0 The rough and tumble Depression-era Cardinals (dubbed \u201cThe Gashouse Gang\u201d) rode Diz\u2019s tongue and golden arm (30-7, 2.65 ERA) to the NL pennant in 1934, besting the Tigers in a memorable seven-game World Series.\u00a0 Between 1932 and 1936, Dean averaged 25 victories per season and seemed destined to become one of the National League\u2019s winningest pitchers ever until struck on the toe by a line drive during the 1937 All-Star Game.\u00a0 The injury forced Dean to alter his pitching motion, leading to arm problems which nipped his career in the bud.<\/p>\n

After retiring in 1941, Dean immediately moved to the broadcast booth, where he earned a huge local following as the radio voice of the St. Louis Browns, peppering play-by-play with his colorful reinventions of the English language.\u00a0 To the dismay of English teachers everywhere, Dean became hugely popular with national audiences in the 1950s as the primary broadcaster for network television\u2019s Game of the Week. The subject of a Hollywood bio-pic (The Pride of St. Louis) and numerous biographies, Ol\u2019 Diz was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1953.<\/p>\n

<\/a>DON ZIMMER<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Elected to the Shrine of the Eternals in his tenth year on the ballot, Don Zimmer (born 1931) is part of a vanishing breed \u2013 the baseball lifer.\u00a0 Now in his eleventh year as a senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays (serving as a coach\/advisor during spring training and for pregame practices at home games, as well as assisting the Rays in the area of community affairs), Zimmer wears the number 66, representing his 66th year in professional baseball.\u00a0 He has noted often, and proudly, that every paycheck he\u2019s ever gotten came from baseball, and has never held a job in any other profession.\u00a0 Zimmer was told his playing days were over after a disastrous beaning in the minor leagues in 1953, but he made it to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954, beginning a twelve-year big league career as an infielder.\u00a0 After the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 World Championship season in 1959, Zimmer bounced around with a series of truly bad teams, including the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets, before retiring as a major leaguer with the Washington Senators in 1965.<\/p>\n

In 1971, he began a long tenure as a coach and manager for major league teams all over North America, including the Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies.\u00a0 Zimmer served three coaching stints for the New York Yankees, the last one finding him dispensing his baseball wisdom as bench coach\/yogi from 1996-2003, during which time the team won four World Series titles under the helm of Joe Torre.\u00a0 Zimmer is often remembered for his \u201cbrawl\u201d with Pedro Martinez during the 2003 AL Championship series, when he ran at and was thrown to the ground by the Red Sox pitcher.\u00a0 Nicknamed \u201cPopeye\u201d for his facial resemblance to the cartoon character, Zimmer is still a warrior at age 83.\u00a0 He has written two autobiographies, Zim: A Baseball Life<\/em> and The Zen of Zim<\/em>, and serves as a member of the advisory board of the Baseball Assistance Team, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping former players through financial and medical difficulties.<\/p>\n

<\/a>RACHEL ROBINSON<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Elected to the Shrine of the Eternals in her first year on the ballot, Rachel Robinson (born 1922) is arguably the most important woman in baseball history, as the widow of baseball and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson.\u00a0 Rachel met Jackie while they were students at UCLA and they were married in 1946, the year before Jackie broke major league baseball\u2019s color barrier and changed America forever.\u00a0 Rachel counseled, consoled, and supported Jackie throughout his career, giving him strength when his will faltered, and she endured with him countless affronts to their dignity.\u00a0 Jackie often attested, without his wife, he could never have withstood the intense pressures of being the first African American in the major leagues.<\/p>\n

Once described by Dodger baseball executive Branch Rickey as Jackie\u2019s \u201ctower to lean on,\u201d Rachel kept her husband\u2019s legacy alive after his premature death in 1972 by founding the New York-based Jackie Robinson Foundation, a nonprofit with the mandate of providing college scholarships and leadership training to promising and talented young people.\u00a0 \u201cAs a nurse [Robinson] has devoted her life to caring for others,\u201d writes Albert Kilchesty, the Baseball Reliquary\u2019s Archivist and Historian.\u00a0 \u201cShe has been honored and celebrated in and out of baseball, and has always been gracious when being acknowledged for her husband\u2019s courage and determination.\u00a0\u00a0 But she is more than deserving of applause and recognition on her own merits.\u00a0 I have never met her.\u00a0 I have never spoken to her.\u00a0 Yet I have more admiration and respect for her than nearly any other woman in public life.\u00a0 She has never played the game \u2013 she is the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dizzy Dean, Don Zimmer, and Rachel Robinson will join 45 other baseball luminaries who have been inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals since elections began in 1999, including, in alphabetical order, Jim Abbott, Dick Allen, Roger Angell, Emmett Ashford, Moe Berg, Yogi Berra, Ila Borders, Jim Bouton, Jim Brosnan, Bill Buckner, Roberto Clemente, Steve Dalkowski, Rod Dedeaux, Jim Eisenreich, Dock Ellis, Eddie Feigner, Mark Fidrych, Curt Flood, Ted Giannoulas, Josh Gibson, Jim \u201cMudcat\u201d Grant, Pete Gray, William \u201cDummy\u201d Hoy, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Bill James, Dr. Frank Jobe, Bill \u201cSpaceman\u201d Lee, Roger Maris, Marvin Miller, Minnie Minoso, Manny Mota, Lefty O\u2019Doul, Buck O\u2019Neil, Satchel Paige, Jimmy Piersall, Pam Postema, Jackie Robinson, Lester Rodney, Pete Rose, Casey Stengel, Luis Tiant, Fernando Valenzuela, Bill Veeck, Jr., Maury Wills, and Kenichi Zenimura.<\/p>\n

In the coming weeks, leading up to the Shrine of the Eternals Induction Day on Sunday, July 20, 2014, further details will be announced, including the recipients of the 2014 Hilda Award (named in memory of Hilda Chester and honoring a baseball fan\u2019s exceptional devotion to the game) and the 2014 Tony Salin Memorial Award (presented annually to an individual dedicated to the preservation of baseball history).<\/p>\n

Paul Dickson, the prolific author and historian, and former recipient of the Tony Salin Memorial Award (2011), will be the keynote speaker for the Shrine of the Eternals 2014 Induction Day.\u00a0 Dickson\u2019s books include the award-winning Bill Veeck: Baseball\u2019s Greatest Maverick<\/em> and the most authoritative and comprehensive guide to baseball terminology ever compiled, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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BBRT’S SHRINE OF THE ETERNALS BALLOT\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Now, here\u2019s a look a BBRT\u2019s ballot.\u00a0 I did vote for 2014 honorees Dizzy Dean and Rachel Robinson,whose \u00a0contributions are described in the Baseball Reliquary’s release. Here’s a look at the “who and why” of my remaining votes (* indicates still living):<\/p>\n

Mamie \u201cPeanut\u201d Johnson (1934 – *)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Johnson was one of three females to play for the Indianapolis Clowns during the declining days of the Negro Leagues.\u00a0 Johnson took the mound to the Clowns for three seasons (1953-55), running up a 33-8 record.\u00a0 Her exploits are chronicled in the children\u2019s book A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie \u201cPeanut\u00a0 Johnson<\/em><\/strong>, by Michelle Y. Green.<\/p>\n

Rube Waddell (1876-1914)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rube Waddell is pretty much granted the title of the zaniest player in MLB history \u2013 but he was also one of the best (at least when he was focused on the game). Waddell was known to wrestle alligators, leave a ball game to chase a fire engine, miss a game he was scheduled to start because he was fishing or playing marbles with neighborhood kids, bring his outfielders in to sit on the grass and then proceed to fan the side \u2013 and frequently do battle with owners and managers.\u00a0 Waddell, who had an issue with alcohol consumption, was more interested in the freedom to do things his way than money.\u00a0 But, when Waddell was on his game, he was arguably the best pitcher of his time. The 6\u20191\u201d, 195-lb. lefty\u00a0led the AL in strikeouts six consecutive seasons (1902-1907) \u2013 by a wide margin.<\/p>\n

How good was Waddell?\u00a0 In 1902, he joined the Philadelphia Athletics in June \u2013 making his first start on June 26 (with just 86 games left in the season.) Waddell proceeded to win 24 games (the league\u2019s second-highest total) against seven losses, with a 2.05 ERA.\u00a0 Perhaps more telling is that, despite his shortened season, he led the AL with 210 strikeouts, fifty more than the runner-up (none other than Cy Young, who had 16 more starts than Waddell). In 1904, Waddell set a modern (post-1900) MLB record with 349 strikeouts that stood until 1965. \u00a0In 1904, Jack Chesbro finished second in the AL in strikeouts \u2013 110 behind Waddell \u2013 while NL leader Christy Mathewson trailed Waddell by 137 Ks.\u00a0 Rube Waddell, elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946, finished with a 193-143, 2.16 line \u2013 leading the AL in strikeouts six times, ERA twice, wins once and complete games once. For more on Waddell, BBRT suggests: Rube Waddell: The Zany, Brilliant Life of a Strikeout Artist<\/em><\/strong>, by Allan Howard Levy and Just a Big Kid: The Life and Times of Rube Waddell<\/em><\/strong>, by Paul Proia.<\/p>\n

Pete Reiser (1919-81<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n

Combine Willie Mays’ skill set (younger folks, think Mike Trout) with Pete Rose\u2019s hustle and Yasiel Puig\u2019s on-field abandon and you have Pete Reiser. In his first MLB full season (CF, Dodgers), a 22-year-old Reiser dazzled defensively and led the NL in runs scored (117), doubles (39), triples (17), batting average (.343), total bases (299) and hit by pitch (11) \u2013 tossing in 14 home runs and 76 RBI for good measure. Unfortunately, unpadded outfield walls, helmet-less at bats (the fiery Reiser was a frequent target) and aggressiveness on the base paths (Reiser twice led the NL in stolen bases) took their toll. In his ten-season career, Reiser endured five skull fractures, a brain injury, a dislocated shoulder and a damaged knee.\u00a0 He was carted off the field 11 times during his career (six times unconscious) and once actually given last rites at the stadium \u2013 and he played on. The three-time All Star retired as a player with a .295 career average, playing in 861 games over ten seasons. No telling what he might have done with padded outfield walls and batting helmets.\u00a0 Pete Reiser was a true \u2013 and talented \u2013 gamer. For more on Reiser, try Pete Reiser: The Rough and Tumble Career of the Perfect Ballplayer,<\/em><\/strong> by Sidney Jacobson.<\/p>\n

Denny McLain (1944- * )<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

MLB\u2019s last 30-game winner (31-6 for the Tigers in 1968), BBRT views McLain as the Pitcher of the Year<\/em> in what baseball analysts often refer to as the Year of the Pitcher<\/em>.\u00a0 And, he wasn\u2019t a one- year wonder.\u00a0 McLain won 20 or more games three times, captured two Cy Young Awards (1968-69) and one AL MVP Award (1968).\u00a0 McLain, who ran up a 131-91, 3.39 record in ten MLB seasons, was a colorful and complex a character off the field and on.\u00a0 He life experience provides a tale of ups and downs \u2013 from being selected the 1968 Associate Press Male Athlete of the Year<\/em> and Sporting News Major League Player of the Year<\/em> to a six-year prison stint.\u00a0 McLain is likely the only former major leaguer whose bio includes such varied terminology as MVP, Cy Young Award, All Star game starting pitcher, World Series opening game starter \u2013 as well as pilot, Capitol Records recording artist, talk show host, author and ex-con.\u00a0 McLain\u2019s story gives baseball fans plenty to talk about \u2013 and you can learn more by reading I Told You I Wasn\u2019t Perfect<\/em><\/strong>, by Denny McLain and Eli Zaret.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, and just one more bit on Denny McLain.\u00a0 He started the 1966 All Star game (vs. Sandy Koufax) and retired all nine batters he faced (Mays, Clemente, Aaron, McCovey, Santo, J. Torre, Lefebvre, Cardenas, Flood) on just 28 pitches \u2013striking out Mays, Aaron and Torre. \u00a0That alone justifies consideration for the Shrine of the Eternals.<\/p>\n

Glenn Burke \u2013 (1952-95<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n

An outfielder for the Dodgers and the Athletics from 1976 to 1979, Burke was the first major league ball player to admit he was gay.\u00a0 Much like the first African-American players, Burke had to face prejudice on and off field, both overt and covert.\u00a0 Burke should be honored for the courage to announce his sexual preference in this environment.<\/p>\n

In four trying MLB seasons, Burke appeared in 226 games, going .237-2-38, with 35 steals. In August 2013, Burke was among the first class selected to the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame. A documentary film: Out: The Glenn Burke Story<\/em><\/strong> was released in 2010. In addition, Burke co-authored (with Erik Sherman) Out at Home: The Glenn Burke Story.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a less significant event, Burke is credited with teaming up with Dusty Baker to create the \u201chigh five.\u201d\u00a0 In the final game of the 1977 season, Baker rapped his 30^{th<\/sup> home run of the year (making the Dodgers the first team to boast four players with 30 home runs in the same season). When Burke ran onto the field to congratulate Baker he raised his hands over his head. Not sure how to respond, Baker chose to slap one of Burke\u2019s hands and \u2013 legend has it \u2013 the high five was born.<\/p>\n}

Effa Manley (1900-81)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The first woman enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, during the 1930s and 1940s, Manley ran the day-to-day operations of the Negro National League Newark Eagles (owned by her husband Abe Manley) \u2013 at a time when baseball, on the field and in the executive offices, was considered a \u201cman\u2019s domain.\u201d\u00a0 Effa, often thought of as a light-skinned black, was actually white.\u00a0 She, however, grew up with a black stepfather and mixed race siblings and was active in the New Jersey branch of the NAACP and Citizen\u2019s League for Fair Play.\u00a0 Effa Manley deserves recognition for overcoming both racial and sexual barriers as she exercised leadership in the national pastime.<\/p>\n

David Mullany (1908-90)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

David Mullany was the inventor of the Wiffle\u00ae Ball (1953), which ultimately changed backyard baseball for millions of young (and old) players and fans. I know I loved my white perforated plastic ball and yellow plastic bat – and played more then one backyard World Series \u00a0opener with them (without shattering a single window). \u00a0Today, there are Wiffle Ball fields, leagues and tournaments.\u00a0 The company is still operated by the Mullany family and you can learn more by visiting their website (www.wiffle.com)<\/p>\n

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I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the baseball organizations I am most proud to be a member of is the Baseball Reliquary. \u00a0It is an organization truly dedicated to the character and characters of baseball – from the fans’ point of view. \u00a0With its passionate, but sometimes \u00a0irreverent approach to the national pastime, BBRT likes to think of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n