We are now 6 weeks into this interesting but oh-so-obvious COVID-19 filler series and have named 27 players as inductees into the Smithsonian Baseball Hall of Immortals. I thought this would be a good time to recap what this is and who the first 27 players are.
The HoI honors the 100 greatest players in baseball history. No managers, executives, or any other non-players are included. The 100 players are not static – if a player comes along who is deemed to be one of the greats of all-time, they will be inducted. However, in order for a new induction, another player gets eliminated. The number of inductees can never surpass 100.
Players will be selected by a committee of baseball historians, journalists, and living members of the HoI. Historians and journalists have to be active in their career. Players become eligible 5 years after they have retired and are only eligible for 1 year. In order to be inducted they must reach a 90% voting threshold.
In no particular order, here are the first 27 Immortals:
- Babe Ruth
- Jackie Robinson
- Cy Young
- Willie Mays
- Hank Aaron
- Josh Gibson
- Ted Williams
- Barry Bonds
- Pete Rose
- Oscar Charleston
- Edgar Martinez
- Johnny Bench
- Tom Seaver
- Frank Robinson
- Ozzie Smith
- Stan Musial
- Steve Carlton
- Ty Cobb
- Brooks Robinson
- Lou Gehrig
- Turkey Stearnes
- Eddie Collins
- Christy Matthewson
- Sandy Koufax
- Warren Spahn
- Mel Ott
- Larry Jones
27 down and 73 to go. Who should be included? Let me know your thoughts.
For some background on what this is, check out the introduction post here.
