Baseball Hall of Fame Elects First Woman

[420inTN]

By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 28 minutes ago

TAMPA, Fla. - Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the baseball Hall of Fame when the former Newark Eagles co-owner was among 17 people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues chosen Monday by a special committee.
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"This is a historic day at the Hall of Fame," shrine president Dale Petroskey said. "I hoped that someday there would be a woman in the Hall. It's a pretty proud moment."

This year's Hall class — 18, including former reliever Bruce Sutter — is by far the biggest in history, breaking the record of 11 in 1946. There are now 278 Hall members.

Mule Suttles and Biz Mackey were among the 12 players selected, along with five executives.

more, full story here

[bleedingheart]

1. I did some searching on Effa Manley...what an amazing woman

she should have been honored while she lived...a pity she is not here to get the reward.

[Gman]

2. My first thought was Marge Schott!

Shoeless Joe Jackson or Pete Rose have a better chance.

[merwin]

3. Yet Buck O'Neil and Minnie Minoso were not selected.

That's a disgrace in my eyes.

[Berry Cool]

4. Yeah, Keith Olbermann is incensed about it.

Had a great piece on it on his show tonight (rerunning at midnight ET) and is going to have Buck on tomorrow night's show. He's angrier about this than Buck is.

[SaveElmer]

5. Absolutely...

Why Buck O'Neil is not in just baffles me. The guy has done more for Negro League baseball than anyone I can think of. And he shows nothing but class. Even after being snubbed yet again, he still offered to introduce the winners (all deceased) from this years vote!

[FredScuttle]

6. Like was said....

A white woman and a convicted felon got in...and, yet, no place for Buck O'Neil? Fucking disgrace.

[SaveElmer]

7. Effa Manley was certainly deserving...

The fact that she was white doesn't really mean anything. SHe was married to a black man and passed as an African American.

From Monte Irvin

"She was very knowledgeable, a very handsome woman," said Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, who played for the Eagles while the Manleys owned the team, as did Don Newcombe and Larry Doby.

"She did a lot for the Newark community. She was just a well-rounded, influential person," Irvin said. "She tried to organize the owners to build their own parks and have a balanced schedule and to really improve the lot of the Negro League players."

I don't see why Buck O'Neil was not included too is all.