Newspaper Page Text
Page 10
— Griffin Daily News Thursday, Jan. 20, 1972
Koufax, Berra, Wynn
join Hall of Fame
By FRED DOWN
UPI Sports Writer
NEW YORK (UPI)-Sandy
Koufax, who packed his great
ness into four seasons, and
Yogi Berra and Early Wynn,
who spread their brilliance over
a longer period of time, were
elected to baseball's Hall of
Fame Wednesday in voting that
suggested the stars of the
modern era will soon achieve
the recognition that has been
granted to those of the distant
past.
Koufax, who may have been
the most dominant pitcher in
baseball history during his
glory years with the Ix)s
Angeles Dodgers from 1963
through 1966, led the trio into
the shrine at Cooperstown,
N.Y., when he received 344 of a
possible 396 votes in the
balloting by the Baseball
Writers Association of America
(BBWAA)
Berra, who won three Most
Valuable Player Awards during
his 18-year career with the New
York Yankees and New York
Mets between 1947 and 1965,
won entry into the hall with 339
votes and Synn, who won 300
games during a 23-year period
from 1939 through 1963, made it
with 301.
Kiner Falls Short
Ralph Kiner, former home
run king of the Pittsburgh
Pirates, fell 65 votes short of
the required 297 (75 per cent)
and was followed by Gil Hodges
(161), Johnny Mize (157), Enos
Slaughter (149), Pee Wee Reese
(129), Marty Marion (120) and
Bob Lemon (117).
It was the first time since
1955 that the BBWAA elected
more than one player and may
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NEW YORK—Sandy Koufax (r), at 36, the youngest player ever elected to baseball’s Hall of
Fame, enjoys the moment with Yogi Berra, who was also voted in. Early Wynn, who was not
present at the announcement, was also elected. (UPI)
mean that the voters are
determined to give as much
recognition to the stars of the
1940-65 era as the special Old
Timers Committee has been
giving the great players of
baseball’s early days. Forty
nine of the players in the Hall
of Fame have been voted in by
the BBWAA whereas 59 have
been elected by the Old Timers
Committee, which originally
was formed as a “backup”
group.
“I would say this is the
biggest honor I’ve ever had,”
said Koufax,” but I wouldn’t
say it was the biggest thrill. I
was a little surprised when I
found out that I had been
elected. I didn’t have as many
good years as many people who
are in the Hall of Fame and I
thought this might count
against me.”
Koufax was one of the few
players who has been elected to
the shrine the first time he was
eligible—an honor not even
given Joe DiMaggio, who was
chosen baseball’s “greatest
living player” in 1969
“A Great Thrill”
“I thought maybe I’d make it
this year,” said Berra, who fell
28 votes short in his first try in
1971. “Whether you make it in
your first, second, third or
fourth try it really doesn’t
matter. It’s a great thrill.”
“Election to the Hall of Fame
is the highlight of a career and
a recognition of a person’s
accomplishments,” said Wynn,
who added that Bob Lemon, a
Cleveland teammate who is
now manager of the Kansas
City Royals, also deserved
election. “After Yogi and I and
no one made it last year, I
thought maybe I’d never make
it. A lot of guys made it who
didn’t win close to 300.
Evidently, the writers weren’t
impressed with the 300 wins
either or else they wouldn’t
have passed me by several
times.”
Koufax, Berra and Wynn will
be formally inducted into the
Hall of Fame on Aug. 7 along
with the two or three stars
from the distant past which the
Old Timers Committee are
likely to elect on Jan. 30.
Head coach
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (UPI)-
Tom Gilburg, former football
and lacrosse star at Syracuse
University who later played for
the Baltimore Colts, Tuesday
was named head lacrosse coach
at University.
Gilburg joined the Lehigh
athletic staff last summer when
he became a football coaching
aide.
Sports Briefs
LIFE SAVER AWARD
NEW YORK (UPI) —Garo
Yepremian, whose 37-yard field
goal in the second overtime
quarter against the Kansas City
Chiefs gave the Miami Dolphins
a 27-24 AFC playoff win in the
longest game in pro football
history, Wednesday received
the Life Saver of the Month
Award for December.
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
DETROIT (UPI) The Detroit
Lions open their 1972 exhibition
schedule on Aug. 5 in Tiger
Stadium with a game against
the Super Bowl runnerup Miami
Dolphins.
CALLISON SOLD
CHICAGO (UPI) -The Chi
cago Cubs Wednesday sold
reserve outfielder Johnny Calli
son, a veteran of 14 years in
the major leagues, to the New
York Yankees on a conditional
basis.
New York has until May 1 to
deliver a player to the Cubs,
make a cash settlement, or
return Callison.
ANNOUNCE SIGNERS
SAN DIEGO (UPI) -The San
Diego Padres Wednesday an
nounced the signing of seven
players, including second base
man Derrel Thomas, a recent
acquisition from Houston.
Others to sign contracts are
pitchers Mike Corkins, Mike
Caldwell, Jay Franklin and
Darcy Fast and catchers Mike
Ivie and Fred Kendall.
Koufax remains the same
By MILTON RICHMAN
UPI Sports Writer
NEW YORK (UPI) -Sandy
Koufax will never change.
Never. That’s part of his
appeal, I think.
He was sitting in his hotel
room in Minneapolis, having his
breakfast this particular morn
ing back in 1965, and he was
pretty close to being the hottest
thing in America.
His season record with the
Dodgers at that point was 15-3,
nobody had beaten him in
nearly two months, everybody
was sure the way he was going
he’d win 30, and any place you
went that’s all you ever heard,
Sandy Koufax, Sandy Koufax,
Sandy Koufax.
No matter where he hap
pened to be, he had to shut off
the phone. He had to because it
never stopped ringing.
He was in Minneapolis this
morning in July because the
All-Star Game was to be played
there the following day. This
was the third straight year he
had been named to the National
League All-Star team, and he
would go out and become the
winning pitcher the day after,
but now in his hotel room after
he finished his breakfast the
conversation got around to all
the pressures he was experienc
ing. Not necessarily on the field
so much, but mainly off it
because so many people wanted
to talk to him; get him to talk
to them; invited him some
where; have him sign his
autograph; appear some place
to accept a plaque, or simply
tell him what a great pitcher he
was.
Not That Good, He Says
“Look,” Sandy Koufax said to
me earnestly that day in his
hotel room, “I know I’m a good
pitcher. But I’m not anywhere
near the great pitcher some of
these people try to make me
out to be. I know I’m not.”
Sandy Koufax was wrong. He
hasn’t changed a lick in seven
years, however because he still
doesn’t know how good a
pitcher he really was.
On Wednesday when he, Yogi
Berra and Early Wynn all were
elected to baseball’s Hall of
Fame, the 36-year-old former
Dodgers’ ace talked the same
Newspaper says
Majors next Tech coach
ATLANTA (UPI) - Johnny
Majors of lowa State will be
named the new head football
coach at Georgia Tech within
the week, the Atlanta Constitu
tion reported today.
The newspaper said lowa
State’s president, W. Robert
Parks, has confirmed that Maj
ors will visit the Tech campus,
apparently for an interview
with the athletic board.
Tech Athletic Director Bobby
Dodd refused to comment on
the rumored Majors visit. “All
I can say is that I am inter
viewing all of the names that
have been mentioned plus some
new ones that came to my at-
' I ■B*' * I
' j *-
NOKOMIS, Fla.—Former Major league pitcher Early Wynn and wife Lorraine sport broad smiles
after learning he has been elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame. Wynn pitched for 23 years with the
Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox and won 300 games, the last
pitcher to hit that plateau. (UPI)
way he did that morning in
Minneapolis.
It doesn’t matter to him that
he is the youngest man ever
voted into the Cooperstown
Hall. It doesn’t matter that he
made it on his first crack nor
does it matter that the 344
votes cast for him by the
baseball writers represent the
highest number ever received
by anyone in the 40-year history
of the award.
“Getting the most votes, I
think, is part of the fact that
more votes than ever were cast
this time,” Koufax tried
brushing off the accomplish
ment.
“What about your being the
youngest ever to get in?” he
was asked.
He smiled at that one.
Makes Retiring Easier
“It makes retiring earlier a
little easier,” he said.
Koufax, who did so much in
baseball in such a short time
before an arthritic elbow cut
short his career at 31 after the
1966 season, said he never
actually set his cap for the Hall
of Fame because “I felt I
didn’t have enough good
years.”
They asked him whether he
ever had any regrets about
having had to retire so early
and he answered, “I had
regrets the next day, but as
I’ve said before if I quit a little
early it’s better than a little
late.”
Koufax said he thought about
retiring for a year (that was
another thing he spoke about
that day in Minneapolis) and
the chief reason he finally did
was because “I was told I was
now running the risk of
permanent damage.”
He means two things—
permanent damage to his arm,
which still bothers him occa
sionally, and possibly even
greater damage from the shots
he had to take to diminish the
pain.
Os the three players who
made the Hall of Fame this
time, Koufax and Berra showed
up for the announcement at a
midtown hotel here while Wynn,
from his home in Nokomis,
tention oily today,” Dodd said.
Majors, whose lowa State
team posted an 8-4 season and
a Sun Bowl loss last year, is
among the top prospects listed
fbr the Tech post vacated by
the firing of Bud Carson. Oth
ers on the list include Bill Pace
of Vanderbilt, Bill Fulcher of
Tampa, Florida State assistant
Steve Sloan and South Carolina
assistant Johnny Menger.
The Constitution said lowa
State Athletic Director Lou
McCullough acknowledged that
Tech officials had contacted
him about discussing the job
with Majors, a former Univer
sity of Tennessee star.
Fla., said he “couldn’t pick two
better guys to go in with.”
Yogi received the word he
was in via a phone call
Tuesday.
“Phew, I made it,” he said to
his wife, Carmen, after he hung
up.
“I suppose you’re going to be
a snob now,” she needled him.
Carmen Knows Baseball
Carmen Berra knows her
baseball. Much better than
Anne Koufax, the daughter of
movie star Richard Widmark,
whom Sandy married three
years ago.
Still, when Koufax got his call
Monday in East Holden, Maine,
where he now lives, his wife
realized the importance of what
was happening to her husband.
“I’m very proud of you,” she
said to him.
Bowie Kuhn, the baseball
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commissioner, and Paul S.
Kerr, the Hall of Fame
president, both posed for
pictures with Berra and Koufax
Wednesday. Later, the photogs
asked Carmen Berra to join the
group and she did. They also
asked her to kiss Yogi, which
she did, but she smiled
bashfully when they suggested
she also kiss Sandy.
Before the proceedings were
over, Carmen Berra put an end
to a vicious rumor about her
husband. Ugly rumor has it
that Yogi never utters any of
his classic “Berra-isms” any
more. His wife says that’s all it
is, strictly rumor.
“His alarm clock didn’t go off
the other morning,” she says,
“but he jumped out of bed
bright and early anyway and
said to me, ‘lf I hadn’t woke
up I’d still be sleeping.’”