Pre-Integration Committee elects O’Day, Ruppert, White to Baseball Hall of Fame
Umpire Hank O’Day, New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert and 19th-century catcher Deacon White were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Pre-Integration Era Committee this week.
The 16-member Pre-Integration Era Committee was comprised of SABR members Pat Gillick, Roland Hemond, Steve Hirdt, Peter Morris and Tom Simon, along with Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven, Phil Niekro and Don Sutton; major league executives Bill DeWitt, Gary Hughes and Bob Watson; and veteran media members and historians Jim Henneman, Phil Pepe, Claire Smith, T.R. Sullivan and Mark Whicker.
O’Day and Ruppert each received 15 votes from the committee, while White received 14 votes — 12 votes (75%) were required for Hall of Fame induction. Bill Dahlen, the National League’s premier shortstop at the turn of the 20th century, finished fourth with 10 votes (62.5%).
Hank O’Day was a National League umpire from 1895 to 1927. He called 10 World Series, but he is most famous for his decision to end the famous Merkle Game in a tie on September 23, 1908. Read his SABR biography, written by David Anderson: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/94b47a84
Jacob Ruppert became co-owner of the Yankees in 1915 and quickly helped changed the team’s fortunes by purchasing Babe Ruth from the Red Sox and building Yankee Stadium. While Ruppert owned the Yankees, New York won 10 American League pennants and seven World Series titles. Read more about him in this article by SABR member Craig Muder: http://baseballhall.org/news/personality/yankee-commander
Deacon White, who hit .312 in a 20-year major league career between 1871 and 1890, was selected by SABR’s Nineteenth Century Research Committee as its Overlooked Base Ball Legend of 2010. Read more about him in this article by SABR member Joe Williams: http://sabr.org/research/deacon-white-overlooked-19th-century-legend
Related links:
- Rob Neyer: Defending the “small” Hall … in 1960 (Baseball Nation)
- Joe Posnanski: How many Hall of Famers enter through the “back door”? More than you think (Sports on Earth)
- Cast your vote for the 50 best players NOT in the Hall of Fame (Baseball Past and Present)
Originally published: December 7, 2012. Last Updated: December 7, 2012.