Woy
RIP West
http://baseballhall.org/news/press-...ounced-hall-fame-plaques-class-2014-inductees
(COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.) – The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has announced the cap selections that will appear on the Hall of Fame plaques for each of the six members of the Hall of Fame class of 2014. Bobby Cox, Tom Glavine, Tony La Russa, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas and Joe Torre will be formally inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., as the feature to a four-day celebration of baseball and their careers as part of Hall of Fame Weekend 2014.
Glavine, Maddux and Thomas were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on January 8, 2014. Cox, La Russa and Torre were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Expansion Era Committee one month earlier, December 8, 2013.
Each Hall of Fame plaque will be revealed as the prelude to each electee’s induction speech on July 27. The Hall of Fame plaque, which serves to reflect the totality of a career, details an individual’s accomplishments in the game in approximately 90 words, while listing each team on which an individual played or managed. An artist rendering of the individual being honored tops the Hall of Fame plaque, and in many instances, a cap, where a logo may or may not featured, is included.
In conjunction with the Hall of Fame, the six members of the class of 2014 have made their selections for the logo inclusion on their Hall of Fame plaque: Bobby Cox – Atlanta; Tom Glavine – Atlanta; Tony La Russa – no logo; Greg Maddux – no logo; Frank Thomas – Chicago White Sox; and Joe Torre – New York Yankees.
“The Museum staff works with each inductee by suggesting an appropriate logo option, or no logo at all,” said Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “For those whose most compelling contributions clearly took place with one team, a logo makes sense. For those whose careers were built significantly among multiple teams, not having a team logo is equally acceptable. Regardless of the selection, a Hall of Famer belong to every team for which he played or managed, as well as every fan who followed his career.”
The six newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame will take their permanent place in Cooperstown on Sunday, July 27, with the ceremony beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT – televised live on MLB Network, highlighting four days of celebratory events and programs for baseball fans of all ages, as part of Hall of Fame Weekend 2014, July 25-28.
Hall of Fame Weekend 2014 will also feature the Saturday, July 26 Awards Presentation, when J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Roger Angell, Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award winner Joe Garagiola and Ford. C. Frick Award winner Eric Nadel will each be honored. The Weekend will include family programming for baseball fans of all ages, including the July 26 Parade of Legends and a July 28 Legends of the Game Roundtable discussion event with the six inductees.
More than 50 Hall of Famers are expected to return for Hall of Fame Weekend, with the full list of returnees to be announced in early July, to honor the Class of 2014 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Each electee has provided a statement about his cap selection, stated below:
Bobby Cox
“I was fortunate to manage 29 years in the major leagues in two wonderful cities in Toronto and Atlanta. I can't imagine two better places for me to spend my managerial career. With 25 of those years in Atlanta, my Hall of Fame election is a direct result of all the success of those great Braves teams that were assembled.”
Tom Glavine
“During the course of my major league career, I had the opportunity to play for two great organizations. Though I spent five great years with the Mets, my baseball life has been defined by the city of Atlanta, from the club selecting me out of high school to where my family makes our home today. My path to Cooperstown was largely determined by my 17 major league seasons in a Braves uniform. I'm proud my Hall of Fame plaque will feature a Braves logo.”
Tony La Russa
“The Chicago White Sox gave me my start in the game as a big league manager for my first eight seasons in my 33-year managerial career. In Oakland, we recorded four first-place finishes in 10 years, winning three pennants and a World Series. And in St. Louis, our clubs won three pennants and two titles in 16 years. It's the totality of the success of each of those three teams that led me to Cooperstown, so I am choosing to not feature a logo so that fans of all clubs can celebrate this honor with me.”
Greg Maddux
“My wife Kathy and I grew up in baseball in Chicago, and then we had just an amazing experience in Atlanta with the Braves. It's impossible for me to choose one of those teams for my Hall of Fame plaque, as the fans of both clubs in each of those cities were so wonderful. I can't think of having my Hall of Fame induction without support of both of those fan bases, so, for that reason, the cap on my Hall of Fame plaque will not feature a logo.”
Frank Thomas
“I was drafted by Chicago in the first round and for 16 of my 19 seasons, I was fortunate to play there. I had wonderful seasons in Oakland and Toronto as part of my career, but my Hall of Fame election is celebrated most by the fans of Chicago and the priceless memories I will always treasure on the South Side, which is why my plaque will feature a Sox logo.”
Joe Torre
“I was lucky that my career took me only to great baseball towns. Every place where I played or managed is special to me because of the memories and the friendships that each afforded me. When I became the manager of the New York Yankees, it was an opportunity to realize my lifelong dream of winning the World Series. We were fortunate enough to succeed in our first season in 1996, and in the years that followed, we wrote some great new chapters in Yankee history. I am honored that I will wear the Yankee logo on my cap in Cooperstown to represent what our teams achieved together.”
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is open seven days a week year round, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. From Labor Day until Memorial Day Weekend, the Museum observes daily regular hours of 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Museum observes summer hours of 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. from Memorial Day Weekend until the day before Labor Day. Ticket prices are $19.50 for adults (13 and over), $12 for seniors (65 and over) and for those holding current memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion and AMVets organizations, and $7 for juniors (ages 7-12). Members are always admitted free of charge and there is no charge for children 6 years of age or younger. For more information, visit our Web site at baseballhall.org or call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or 607-547-7200.
