(Story & Photo by Marco Stoovelaar)
 John Schuerholz and Bud Selig elected into Hall of Fame
Nederlands
 NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (USA) -
Former Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig and Atlanta Braves-executive John Schuerholz were elected to the Hall of Fame on Sunday (December 4).
The announcement was made on the first day of the annual Winter Meetings, which are held this time in Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, which is located in Oxon Hill, which is a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Selig and Schuerholz will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 30 next year, together with the electees of the annual Baseball Writers Election in January.
These will be announced on January 18.
Selig and Schuerholz were elected by the 16-person Today's Game Era Committee, who held a meeting earlier on Sunday-afternoon.
Voting in the committee were 16 former players and executives, as well as historians.
To be elected, a candidate needed 12 votes, or 75% percent.
Schuerholz received 16 votes, Selig received 15.
Bud Selig was the ninth Major League Baseball Commissioner and served in that position for 23 years (1992-2015).
During his tenure, four new teams were added (Florida (Miami) Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays), the Wild Card Play-Off was expanded, Interleague Play was established, MLB Network was created and the World Baseball Classic made its entrance.
Selig is the fifth (of ten) Commissioner to be elected into the Hall of Fame.
The others are Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Happy Chandler, Ford Frick and Bowie Kuhn.
John Schuerholz has been the General Manager of Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves.
He became the first General Manager to win a World Series with a team from both the American and the National League.
While being with the Braves, the team qualified for the Play-Offs in 14 consecutive years and reached the World Series five times.
When Schuerholz was the General Manager with the Braves, one of his successful players was Andruw Jones.
The 'Kid From Curaçao' is currently a Special Advisor with the Braves and also is the Bench Coach of the Netherlands Kingdom Team.
In past years, the Veterans Committee held elections each December.
This past July, a new system was installed to evaluate players, managers, umpires and executives from the past to be considered for the Hall of Fame.
Four new committees were created, Today's Game (1988 through present), Modern Baseball (1970-1987), Golden Days (1950-1969) and Early Baseball (1871-1949).
The Today's Game Committee hold its first meeting this year and will do so again in 2018.
The other three Committees will rotate in the coming years.
To be eligible, players, managers and umpires must have been retired more than 15 seasons.
These Committees provide a second chance for players to be elected after having become ineligible for the regular election, which is held every January.
Selig and Schuerholz were two of ten candidates to be considered for election.
The group included five players, two managers and three executives.
...Davey Johnson with Robert Eenhoorn during...
...the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing (China)...
...as Manager of the USA and the Netherlands...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
The players were Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser and Mark McGwire.
The managers were Davey Johnson and Lou Piniella and the executives were John Schuerholz, Bud Selig and George Steinbrenner.
After having played in the Major League in 1965-1978, Davey Johnson became a successful Manager.
He led the New York Mets (1984-1990), Cincinnati Reds (1993-1995), Baltimore Orioles (1996-1997), Los Angeles Dodgers (1999-2000) and Washington Nationals (2011-2013).
In 1986, he won the World Series with the Mets.
In 2003, Johnson was the (Assistant) Manager of the Netherlands National Baseball Team, which then qualified for the Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens (Greece) and captured the European Championship-title.
Back then, the Orange squad was led by Robert Eenhoorn.
Later, Johnson was the Manager of Team USA during the Olympic Games of 2008 in Beijing (China) and then faced Eenhoorn, who then again was the Manager of the Netherlands.
Like Johnson, Lou Piniella also became successful as a Manager after conclusion of his playing career (1964; 1968-1984).
Piniella was the Manager of the New York Yankees (1986-1987; 1988), Cincinnati Reds (1990-1992), Seattle Mariners (1993-2002), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003-2005) and Chicago Cubs (2007-2010).
In 1990, he won the World Series with the Reds.
Outfielder Harold Baines played 22 years in the Major League for five teams, including 14 with the Chicago White Sox.
He collected 2,866 basehits, including 384 homeruns.
Outfielder Albert Belle played in 12 Major League-seasons for three clubs, including eight with the Cleveland Indians.
He had eight consecutive seasons with 30 or more homeruns and 100 or more runs batted in.
First baseman Will Clark played in 15 seasons for four clubs, including eight with the San Francisco Giants.
He registered 2,176 basehits, including 284 homeruns.
Righthanded pitcher Orel Hershiser was in the Major League for 18 seasons and played for four clubs, including 13 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In his career, he was 204-150 with a 3.48 ERA.
First baseman Mark McGwire played 12 seasons for the Oakland A's and five with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Of his 1,626 basehits, 583 were homeruns.
McGwire is one of only two players to hit 60 or more homeruns in back-to-back seasons.
The other is Sammy Sosa.
In 1998, McGwire hit 70 homeruns, which then was a record.
That was broken in 2001 by Barry Bonds, who hit 73.
George 'The Boss' Steinbrenner was the principal owner of the New York Yankees for 37 years from 1973 to his death in July 2010.
During his tenure, the Yankees won the American League-title eleven times and the World Series seven times.
Piniella received seven votes, all others received fewer than five votes.
(December 4)
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