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Is this the last, best Hall of Fame hope for Atlanta Braves great Dale Murphy?

By Alan Carpenter

ATLANTA, GA - JULY 11: Former Atlanta Brave Dale Murphy and Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Turner Field on July 11, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JULY 11: Former Atlanta Brave Dale Murphy and Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Turner Field on July 11, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK – JULY 21: Harold Baines gives his speech during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Clark Sports Center on July 21, 2019 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK – JULY 21: Harold Baines gives his speech during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Clark Sports Center on July 21, 2019 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

The Court of Next Resort

The purpose of this special election is to allow for ‘wrongs to be righted’ via the selection of a blue-ribbon committee to revisit the fates of several players – usually with some common connection.

For example, 2006 featured a Special Committee on Negro Leagues that inducted seventeen players and executives from a league and an era that had largely been ignored by the sport.

In 2019, a ‘Today’s Game Era’ committee elected 2:  Lee Smith and Harold Baines… the latter raising numerous eyebrows in the sport, yet giving hope to many ‘on the bubble’.

That’s where we come in with Dale Murphy this year… with a ‘Modern Baseball’ Committee.

Murphy will be joined on this year’s special ballot by these contemporaries:

All of these men are on the ballot because the nomination group had somebody in the room who thought they might be worthy enough to gain election.

Whether that happens will largely depend on the makeup of those in the room when the ballots are passed out.

If Murphy is passed over this year, it will be another 3 year before his ‘era’ comes up in the cycle again… and who knows whether he’d even make that ballot then?

It is largely believed that Harold Baines received his ticket to Cooperstown because the 16-member voting council included former White Sox manager Tony LaRussa and former Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who ‘championed’ his candidacy’ via a ‘Today’s Game’ committee last year.

However it came down, it worked.  He got the 12 votes he needed … 75% of those voting.

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