The Rundown: Baseball Hall of Fame class shares Atlanta as a central hub
Former Royals outfielder Jeff Francoeur is back in the majors with San Diego, and this weekend the Padres are in Atlanta, where he made his debut with the Braves.
It’s a good chance to catch up with some old friends. Trouble is, most of them are out of town, including his former manager Bobby Cox.
“On the way in today, I called Bobby, talked to him for a minute just to tell him good luck and congrats,” Francoeur told reporters on Friday. “I wish I could see a lot more of the people I know, but they’re all up in Cooperstown, which is a good thing.”
Cox is in Cooperstown with a couple of his former pitchers: Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. All three will be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, along with former White Sox star Frank Thomas.
Cox also is being inducted with two other former managers: Joe Torre and Tony La Russa.
Torre played for the Braves and later managed in Atlanta. La Russa, who made his debut with the Kansas City A’s in 1963 went on to play for the A’s in Oakland. He later was with the Cubs and — wouldn’t you know it? — the Braves.
“This will be one of the coolest days ever,” former Braves pitcher John Smoltz told USA Today. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a bigger day in the history of the Atlanta Braves.”
It will be a big day for the city of Chicago as well. Frank Thomas hit 448 of his 521 home runs during his 16 seasons with the White Sox. A two-time MVP winner, he had a career .301 average with 1,704 RBIs and 1,667 walks.
“It’s an unprecedented class — six first-ballot Hall of Famers, and three of the most iconic managers of the last 40 years — and I’m a part of it,” Thomas told the Chicago Tribune. “I’m excited. And with Maddux, the people of Chicago will be having two guys going in — one from the North Side and one from the South Side.
“So Chicago has got to be tuned in for that. Greg is going to be Greg. He’s humorous. He’s going to be laid-back. He said, ‘Don’t expect too much from me, but I’m going to have a good time with it.’ ”
Maddux started his career in 1986 with the Cubs and finished with 355 victories. He won the first of four straight Cy Young awards in 1992 with Chicago, then left for Atlanta where he won 194 games.
His manager in Atlanta was Bobby Cox, who got 2,149 of his career 2,504 victories with the Braves. Maddux’s teammate from 1993-2002 was Tom Glavine, who won 305 career games, including 244 with the Braves.
La Russa got his managerial start in Chicago, guiding the White Sox to the AL West title in 1983 before winning a World Series in Oakland and two in St. Louis.
Torre is best known for winning for World Series titles as the Yankees manager. But he was a two-time All-Star in his three years in Atlanta (1966-68) and managed there from 1982-84, helping the Braves win the NL West in 1982.
“This is going to be absolutely remarkable, with an inordinate number of people coming from the Southeast,” Braves president John Schuerholz, the former Royals general manager, told USA Today. “This will be a tremendous day. Everyone wants to pay their respect and show their appreciation.”
Hall of Fame change
The Baseball Hall of Fame has reduced the number of years a player can remain eligible to be voted in by the writers to 10 years from 15, giving Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens less time to be considered.
The Hall of Fame announced the changes Saturday. They are effective immediately and will be reflected in 2015 Hall of Fame voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Bonds and Clemens, record-breaking stars whose careers have been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use, have been on the ballot the last two years.
The BBWAA will allow three players — Don Mattingly, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell — who have been on the ballot between 10-15 years to complete a 15-year stay.
This story was originally published July 26, 2014 at 6:36 PM with the headline "The Rundown: Baseball Hall of Fame class shares Atlanta as a central hub."