Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503080104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TAMPA, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
National League founder William Hulbert and turn-of-the-century pitcher Vic Willis also were chosen by the 17-member committee.
``I appreciate the fact that I was chosen in my 50th year of pro ball,'' said Ashburn, who hit .308 in a 15-year career mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he now broadcasts.
``I thought maybe it would happen someday, but you don't sit back and say, `This is going to be the year.'''
The panel's voting rules were revised recently for a five-year period, allowing it to pick four people instead of the usual two. In particular, the group wanted to enhance the chances for Negro Leagues and 19th century players, and it took full advantage of the change.
The 78-year-old Day has been in a hospital room in Baltimore, where he's being treated for heart problems, diabetes and gout.
The four new members are the most chosen by the Veterans Committee since it named seven players in 1971. It takes a 75 percent majority to be elected. Vote totals are not announced. Nellie Fox, Gil Hodges and Cecil Travis also received support.
``There were a lot of candidates for us to consider, and I think we got four good ones,'' said Stan Musial, a committee member along with Ted Williams and other Hall of Famers.
Mike Schmidt hit 548 home runs for the Phillies and was elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America in January. New members will be enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 30.
``He played in an era when there were some great center fielders who went on to become Hall of Famers,'' Schmidt said of Ashburn. ``Now, he's one of them ... Willie, Mickey, Duke and Richie.''
While Schmidt shares the NL record with Eddie Mathews for hitting 30 or more home runs in nine straight seasons, Ashburn, the prototype leadoff hitter, hit a total of 29 homers in his career from 1948 to 1962 with the Phillies, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets.
Instead, he was a classic leadoff hitter, someone with speed who slapped the ball the other way, a guy who even wore No. 1, which the Phillies have retired. Pesky at the plate, he once fouled off 14 straight pitches before drawing a walk from Cincinnati's Corky Valentine in 1954.
Ashburn twice led the NL in batting, four times in walks and finished with 2,574 hits and a .397 on-base percentage. He stole 234 bases and was a five-time All-Star. Yet his accomplishments often were overshadowed by other center fielders of his day - Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider.
``There aren't too many guys left who play the way I did,'' Ashburn said. ``Brett Butler, certainly. But no one chokes up on the bat anymore.''
Ashburn set a major league record for outfielders of four seasons with 500 putouts.
Day pitched in a record seven Negro Leagues All-Star games during a career from 1934 to 1949. He spent most of his time with the Newark Eagles, and played outfield and second base when he wasn't pitching.
Day won three of four matchups with Satchel Paige, including a time when the Homestead Grays borrowed Day from Newark for one game, giving him a $50 bonus. He set a Negro National League record in 1942 by striking out18 Baltimore Elite Giants one night, including Roy Campanella three times.
While in the army during World War II,Day beat Cincinnati star Ewell Blackwell and a team with other white major leaguers for the European Service Championship in Nuremberg, Germany. The crowd was estimated at up to 100,000.
In 1993, he fell one vote short of election to the Hall by the Veterans Committee. Campanella, his friend, who was ill and unable to attend, cast the deciding ballot.
Day's lifetime stats are incomplete.
Willis won 20 games eight times and pitched 50 shutouts in the NL with Boston, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. He died in 1947.
Hulbert originated the idea of organizing the NL in 1876. He went on to be league president and also president of the Chicago NL team until his death in 1882
Hulbert constantly tried to clean up the game, banning four players for life for fixing games and chasing two teams from the league for repeated liquor violations.
by CNB