Saturday, July 26, 2008

Hall of Fame Weekend



Tomorrow is induction day for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown NY.
The two main inductees this year are relief pitcher Rich Gossage and manager Dick Williams.
Williams managed the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A's, California Angels, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners, finishing with a record of 1,571-1,451.
He managed the 1967 AL champion Boston Red Sox and won World Series titles with the A's in 1972 and 73 and then led the San Diego Padres to their first World Series in 1984. He also was a key part of the Montreal Expos turnaround, even though he was not there when the team finally won a division title in 1981.
He's also the answer to a trivia question. The manager of the defending league champion gets to manage the All-Star Game the following season. Most would assume Mike Scioscia was the first Angel All-Star manager in 2003, after his team won the 2002 World Series. But Williams left the A's after the 73 season and managed the Angels in 1974, so he got to manage that All-Star game in an Angel uniform.
Gossage played for the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners in his career (it's almost worth a four-hour drive down to Cooperstown just to see how they fit all those teams on his plaque!). He finished with 310 career saves and may be the last old-school reliever to make the hall. By old-school I refer to relief pitchers who actually came into the game when there were potential tying or go-ahead runs on base as early as the seventh inning!

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