MORE: Analyzing 2014 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot
The 16-member Expansion Era Committee has cast its ballots, and Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, and Joe Torre have been unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The announcement came Monday morning at the Winter Meetings.
Cox managed the Braves for 25 seasons in two separate stints, in addition to guiding the Blue Jays for four seasons. He has to his credit five pennants and one World Series (1995, with the Braves). Cox also claimed 15 division titles, 14 of which came with the Braves. Three times he won NL Manager of the Year, and once he was named AL Manager of the Year. Cox, who retired following the 2010 season, ranks fourth on the all-time list with 2,504 wins.
La Russa’s Cooperstown dossier includes three World Series titles (he joins Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson as the lone managers to win a World Series in each league), six pennants and the most wins of any manager not named Connie Mack or John McGraw (2,728 of them). La Russa also led three different teams -- the White Sox, Athletics and Cardinals -- to the postseason. He retired after leading the Cardinals to the championship in 2011.
As for Torre, he long ago positioned himself as a strong “hybrid” candidate. As a player, he tallied 2,342 hits and 252 home runs, and he also was a nine-time All-Star and the 1971 NL MVP. As a manager, Torre ranks fifth on the all-time wins list with 2,326 victories with the Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Yankees and Dodgers. Along with Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel, Connie Mack and Walter Alston, Torre is one of five managers to win the World Series at least four times.
Here they are together upon receiving word of their election:
La Russa, Cox, Torre, Hall of Famers: pic.twitter.com/fR8dVnxMWE
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 9, 2013
Cox, La Russa and Torre will be inducted alongside those elected by the BBWAA on Sunday, July 27, 2014 in Cooperstown. The results of the BBWAA vote will be announced on Jan. 8 of next year.
Also on the ballot were former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner; long-time manager Billy Martin; and players Dave Concepcion, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Dave Parker, Dan Quisenberry and Ted Simmons; and legendary MLBPA leader Marvin Miller.
Under Veterans’ Committee rules, each voter can list up to five names on his ballot, and each candidate must be named on 75 percent of ballots (or 12 out of 16) in order to earn election. This time around, no other candidate received more than six votes.
Members of the 16-man committee include Hall of Famers Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Whitey Herzog, Tommy Lasorda,Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor, Phil Niekro and Frank Robinson; major league executives Paul Beeston (Blue Jays), Andy MacPhail (formerly of the Twins, Cubs and Orioles), Dave Montgomery (Phillies) and Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox); and historians Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Bruce Jenkins (San Francisco Chronicle), Jack O’Connell (BBWAA secretary) and Jim Reeves (formerly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
