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Who's Who in the class of 2001

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This weekend in Cooperstown, the Baseball Hall of Fame will induct 5 new members. Below are short biographies (not research projects) on the latest honorees. Absent is anything about former Negro League star Hilton Lee Smith, who I will profile in depth later this week. Also of note are those being honored with the J.G. Taylor Spink award and Ford C. Frick award, Ross Newhan of the L.A. Times and Spanish broadcaster Felo Ramirez, respectively.

Dave Winfield

Some athletes are not born with all of the physical gifts needed to be a complete player. Dave Winfield was certainly not one of these people. Drafted in baseball, basketball, and football, David Mark Winfield made a great choice when he decided to sign with the San Diego Padres. He never spent a day in the minor leagues. He wound up becoming a well publicized millionaire when he signed with the New York Yankees in 1981. He was dubbed "Mr. May," by his employer, George Steinbrenner, for not producing in the post-season. He played well during his Yankee career, but never won a championship. Later, he came through with a big hit to help the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series, and, in storybook fashion, he collected his 3,000th hit while playing for his hometown Minnesota Twins. He finished with 3,100 hits, 465 homers, and seven gold gloves. His decision to go into the Hall of Fame as a Padre is understandable, even to the Yankees fans who, in the back of their minds, may feel slight disrespect. After all, it is the team that originally drafted him, even if everyone knew that he was a natural.

Kirby Puckett

There are certain guys in sports that everyone roots for. Portly, friendly, hard-working, tireless Kirby Pucektt was indisputably one of these people. While his glaucoma-shortened career with the Minnesota Twins did not produce typical "Hall of Fame" numbers, he did posess many of the intangibles that gets one to Cooperstown. He stayed out of trouble, gave great interviews, adhered to the fans, and, most importantly, stepped up in the post-season, offensively and defensively. He batted over .300 for his career, hit more than 200 home runs, played a stellar center field (6 gold gloves), was a great baserunner, and posessed a sky-high baseball i.q. I may have argued previously about the travesty that Don Mattingly is not in the Hall of Fame and Puckett is, but on Kirby's day, he deserves the spotlight. I know his speech will capture the public the way his play on the field did.

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