LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Baseball enjoyed a glorious first full day at the winter meetings, the rancor of high salaries and bitter negotiations transcended by the announcement Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre — the three most successful managers of the past 35 years — will be entering the Hall of Fame together next July, each man elected unanimously by the 16-member Expansion Era Committee.
Of course, every Hall of Fame contest leaves the majority of the candidates out in the cold, and the two most prominent guys left out of this party are not players, but executives: Longtime Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Players Association pioneer Marvin Miller. And the Cooperstown prognoses for both men, both of whom had profound impact on the game, are cloudy.
Miller, who died last year at age 95, actually regressed from his previous shot, three years ago, when he finished with 11 votes — just one short of the 12 necessary for induction. This time, he joined Steinbrenner and the other candidates (Dave Concepcion, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Billy Martin, Dave Parker, Dan Quisenberry and Ted Simmons) by getting “six or fewer,” as the Hall’s press release put it. The Hall doesn’t like to get too specific in order to protect the pride of the runners-up.
The Hall announced three years ago Steinbrenner received fewer than eight votes, as was the case for The Boss’ legendary foil Martin, so it isn’t clear precisely how much progress (or lack thereof) Steinbrenner made this time. But he hasn’t really put himself on the radar.
“I think there was some positive support for everyone on the ballot,” said Jim Reeves, a longtime Dallas-area writer who served on this committee. “I think that there are — when you have these three guys, with all the votes they got — I think some of these other guys will be back again and will get support again. I think there’s still a good chance that some of these other guys will still get in the Hall of Fame.”
The way the Hall’s Expansion Era Committee is currently set up, there’s a three-year rotation. The Committee will come up again for consideration in 2016. The good news for The Boss, Miller, Martin and the others is that Cox, La Russa and Torre are off the board.
The bad news is that, of the three eras — the other two are the Golden Era (1947-72) and the Pre-Integration Era (baseball’s origin until 1946) — the Expansion Era is the only one that’s open-ended. Good candidates can keep coming. For example, if Jack Morris doesn’t get elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America next month, which would complete his 15-year run of eligibility on that ballot, he’d figure to be a strong contender on the 2016 Expansion Era ballot.
You know the contributions Steinbrenner made to the game. He rebuilt the Yankees into the industry monster by utilizing free agency, was personally involved in every component from customer service to technological advancements and helped legitimize regional sports networks with the development of YES.
“You would have to ask the committee but I certainly hope so,” Torre said, when asked about Steinbrenner’s eventual induction. “I saw many other owners try to emulate him and never lived up to it.’’
What ultimately could hold Steinbrenner back is his two suspensions from baseball, the first for his conviction for illegal contributions to Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign and the second for his involvement with gambler Howie Spira to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield. That negative part of Steinbrenner’s history came up in his case discussion.
As for Miller, he has Steinbrenner’s impact without his skeletons. It is laughable intellectually to think Miller isn’t already in the Hall.
“Words cannot adequately describe the level of disappointment and disbelief I felt when learning that once again the Hall of Fame has chosen to ignore Marvin Miller and his unparalleled contributions to the growth and prosperity of Major League Baseball,” Players Association executive director Tony Clark said in a statement. “… Despite the election results, Marvin’s legacy remains intact, and will only grow stronger, while the credibility of the Hall of Fame continues to suffer.”
Unfortunately, what complicates Miller’s candidacy is that his family has come out and campaigned for Miller NOT to be inducted. That issue came up in discussion, Reeves acknowledged, but the Hall’s stance is that it shouldn’t be considered.
Both men belong in Cooperstown, eventually. It’ll be another three-year wait now, and little assurance of any resolution at that juncture.