Finally! Ron Santo, HOF
Ronnie's in. Bittersweet but worthy of shedding a few tears for all Cub fans.
Here's the link to the National Baseball Hall of Fame's site announcement.
The "Golden Era" decision committee was changed to a 16 member group for this vote. As in the usual Hall of Fame voting, 75% of the ballots were needed. Ron Santo got 15 of 16 ballots which is 94% and in Cub circles officially considered a landslide. He's the only candidate who got in this time. The next most ballots went to Jim Kaat who got 10 votes, Gil Hodges and Minnie Minoso with 9 votes and Tony Olivo with 8.
Teammate, Billy Williams, was a member of the HOF voting committee, was quoted saying "we got it done."
The remainder of the committee:
The 16-member Golden Era Committee was comprised of Hall of Fame members Hank Aaron, Pat Gillick, Al Kaline, Ralph Kiner, Tommy Lasorda, Juan Marichal, Brooks Robinson; major league executives Paul Beeston (Blue Jays), Bill DeWitt (Cardinals), Roland Hemond (Diamondbacks), Gene Michael (Yankees) and Al Rosen (retired); and veteran media members Dick Kaegel, Jack O'Connell and Dave Van Dyck. Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark served as the non-voting chairman of the Golden Era Committee.
Pat Hughes on WGN radio (as I type) says he envisions Ron with a maximally happy look on his face, "like a happy 10 year old kid".
His wife, Vicki Santo, during the same WGN radio interview said up in heaven he's pumping his fist saying, "I got there".
July 22nd 2012 will be Ron Santo's induction date. Heel Clicking optional.
Comments