Dyer: Eppa Rixey has a long Hall of Fame legacy
From Mike Dyer at the Cincinnati Enquirer on April 25, 2013, with mention of SABR members Rob Neyer and Greg Rhodes:
Before Eppa Rixey heard of his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January 1963, his 10-year-old grandson Eppa Rixey IV answered the phone call that delivered the news.
“It seemed like the phone rang – and I almost can’t believe that I answered it – but that’s my memory is that I picked up (and said) ‘Baba, it’s for you,’” Rixey IV told The Enquirer earlier this month.
‘Baba’ was the nickname the grandchildren had for the former Reds southpaw, who is the only pitcher in the Hall of Fame with a Reds logo on his plaque.
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Rixey died Feb. 28, 1963 – just a few months before the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony – but his significant legacy in Reds history remains steadfast.
A native of Culpeper, Va., Rixey won 266 games by the time he left the game in August 1933 – the most wins by any National League left-handed pitcher until Warren Spahn broke the record in 1959, according to Baseball-Reference.com and the Society of American Baseball Research.
Rixey was elected to Cooperstown on Jan. 27, 1963 by the Veterans Committee.
He is one of only two Hall of Famers who died between election and their induction, according to the Hall of Fame. (Leon Day was the other in 1995).
Read the full article here: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/ourhistory/2013/04/25/rixey-has-a-long-hof-legacy/
Originally published: April 25, 2013. Last Updated: April 25, 2013.