Cooperstown, NY (Sportsbooks) - Joe Torre, the current manager of the
New York Yankees and a former major league infielder, is one of 25 former players featured on the 2005 Veterans Committee ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
A nine-time All-Star, Torre played nearly 18 seasons (1960-77) and was the National League MVP in 1971 when he led the NL with a .363 batting average, 24 homers and a career-best 137 RBI while playing third base for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The other players on the ballot are: Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Wes Ferrell, Curt Flood, Joe Gordon, Gil Hodges, Elston Howard, Jim Kaat, Mickey Lolich, Sparky Lyle, Marty Marion, Roger Maris, Carl Mays, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Don Newcombe, Tony Oliva, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Maury Wills and Smoky Joe Wood.
The final candidates were selected by 60 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Any candidate named on 75 percent of ballots cast will earn election into the Hall of Fame and will be enshrined on July 31, 2005.
Results will be announced on March 2, 2005.
The Veterans Committee is comprised of the 60 living members of the Hall of Fame, 14 Ford C. Frick Award recipients, 10 J.G. Taylor Spink Award recipients, and one former Veterans Committee member whose term has not yet expired.
Players are reviewed for election into the Hall of Fame via the veterans committee every two years. The Committee did not elect any new members to the Hall in 2003. The top vote-getter was Hodges with 61.7 percent, followed closely by Oliva (59.3) and Santo (56.8).
