The 10 players recently named to the Golden Days Hall of Fame ballot constitute a uniformly strong list of candidates. A plausible argument could be made for enshrinement of all 10.
Ironically, the very strength of the ballot could also be the reason why none of the 10 are chosen.
Voting rules limit the 16 panel members to placing a maximum of four names on their ballot. In such a competitive field, that makes the challenge of amassing the support of the necessary three-quarters — a dozen votes – a daunting one indeed.
The impressive Golden Era Hall of Fame ballot
The 10 candidates are: Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Roger Maris, Minnie Minoso, Danny Murtaugh, Tony Oliva, Billy Pierce, and Maury Wills.
How impressive a lineup is that? Collectively they hit nearly 1,700 home runs, won five MVPs, and played in 46 All Star games. Two – Oliva and Allen – were Rookies of the Year. They stole more than 1,200 bases – Wills only accounted for about half that total – and drove in 5,882 runs.
The two nominated Golden Days pitchers – Kaat and Pierce – combined to win 494 games over 7,837 innings, piling up 4,460 strikeouts in an era when that was a true challenge.
Murtaugh managed the Pirates to the 1960 and 1971 world championships across a 15-season career. He had a .540 lifetime percentage in the dugout.
The most likely candidate to survive this gauntlet of a Golden Days ballot, if anybody does, is probably Allen.
Hall of Fame voters have a history of voting in recently deceased deserving candidates, and that describes Allen, who died a year ago. The 1964 Rookie of the Year and 1972 Most Valuable Player, he hit 351 home runs during a 15-year career with the Phillies, White Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers, and Athletics.
In the abstract, almost any of the other Golden Days candidates could be characterized as plaque-worthy. If voters decide to skew their ballots to favor candidates who are actually still alive, that favors Kaat, Oliva, and Wills. The other seven nominees have all died.
A third baseman, Boyer played 15 seasons, mostly with the Cardinals, leading the team to the 1964 World Series and bagging MVP honors in the process. He drove in a league-leading 119 runs that year, and retired with a career .287 batting average. But he has never gotten much more than 25 percent support in any of his nearly 20 appearances on a Hall of Fame ballot.
Maris, of course, hit 61 home runs in 1961 and was twice an MVP. But his Hall vote peaked at about 40 percent.
Hodges played a key role on seven Dodger pennant winners, including the 1955 and 1959 world champions. He retired with 370 home runs, more than any other candidate on the ballot, and capped his career by managing the 1969 Miracle Mets to a World Series upset of heavily favored Baltimore.
The case for Minoso as a Golden Days electee was buttressed early this year by recognition of the Negro Leagues as major leagues. Prior to the career for which he has previously been recognized, Minoso played three seasons with the New York Cubans and was an All Star in two of them. He may rank behind only Allen as a plausible second Golden Days honoree.
Kaat won 283 games, a total that still ranks 31st all time. Among post-1900 pitchers, only Tommy John (288) has more wins without a Cooperstown plaque.
Oliva was the 1964 Rookie of the Year, when he won the AL batting title at .323. He repeated at .321 in 1965, leading the Twins to the American League pennant. During five seasons between 1964 and 1970, Oliva was the AL hit leader. He retired with a .304 career average.
Wills led the National League in stolen bases annually between 1960 and 1965, a six-year period in which he averaged 63 steals per season. The 104 bases he stole in 1962 broke Ty Cobb’s half-century old record and made Wills the first person to top 100 steals in a season.
Pierce was a two-time 20-game winner with the White Sox, completing 193 games in an 18-season career. He pitched for pennant winners in 1959 (Chicago) and 1962 (San Francisco), and in 1955 won the ERA title at 1.97.