Five men earned induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame via Veterans Committee selections, but former manager Dick Williams is the lone living member of the group.
Williams, 79, will deliver his induction speech Sunday at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown.
Manager Billy Southworth, former owners Walter O'Malley and Barney Dreyfuss, and former commissioner Bowie Kuhn will be honored posthumously.
Williams followed a 13-year playing career by managing 22 seasons in the major leagues with six teams _ the Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, California Angels, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. He finished with two World Series championships _ back-to-back with Oakland in 1972-73 _ and reached the World Series two other times with Boston in 1967 and San Diego in 1984.
He ended his career with the Mariners in 1988 and had a 1,571-1,451 career mark.
An old-school type manager, Williams never seemed to worry about coddling players, rather teaching and preaching the fundamentals. Williams said during a conference call July 17 that his style might not be welcomed in today's game.
"Well, I'd get fired in a week," he said. "My style of play doesn't fit in with all these millionaires now. Listen, more power to the player. He's getting that money. And they're bigger, they're stronger, but I don't think they know baseball as well as we knew it or still know it.
"They're doing a great job and there's some great races going on," he continued. "Maybe the general managers and field managers should get credit for that."
To earn election in the Veterans Committee election, one needed 75 percent of the vote. Williams and Southworth earned 81.3 percent on the managers/umpires list.
Dreyfuss and Kuhn each received 83 percent and O'Malley got 75 percent on the executives/pioneers ballot.
Other VC Inductees
Southworth won four NL pennants and two World Series titles managing St. Louis. He managed 13 seasons with the Cardinals and Boston Braves, finishing with a 1,044-704 record.
His World Series titles came in 1942 and 1944. He also won the NL pennant with the Boston Braves in 1948.
Family members for Southworth were not available, so Bill DeWitt, a Hall of Fame board member and the chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals, will speak on his behalf. Southworth died in 1969.
O'Malley was one of the most influential owners in baseball history, taking the Brooklyn Dodgers to four pennants and one World Series title in his first seven years after taking over the team in 1950. After losing a battle to get a new stadium in Brooklyn, he started baseball's expansion to the West Coast by taking the team to Los Angeles. This season is the 50th year for the Dodgers in Los Angeles. O'Malley died in 1979.
O'Malley's son, Peter, will accept his father's plaque Sunday.
Kuhn served from 1969-1984 as the fifth commissioner of Major League Baseball. Kuhn helped the game expand by gaining big television contracts and introducing night baseball to the World Series. Attendance tripled during Kuhn's time. He'll be the first commissioner inducted since Happy Chandler in 1982.
Kuhn died in March of 2007.
Paul Degener, Kuhn's son, will speak at the ceremony.
Dreyfuss, considered by many as the father of the modern World Series, was the first owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He won championships in 1909 and 1925 and spent 43 years in baseball, earning six pennants. Dreyfuss died in 1932.
Dreyfuss' great-grandson, Andrew, will accept the plaque and speak Sunday.
Award Winners
Seattle Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus, who has been the only voice of the franchise since starting in 1977, will be honored with the 2008 Ford C. Frick Award. Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver will present the award to Niehaus.
Niehaus got his start on Armed Forces Radio and TV, calling Yankees and Dodgers games. He has also called games for the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Lakes, UCLA football and UCLA basketball. He's twice been named Washington State Sportscaster of the Year.
Some of his catchphrases are "My, Oh, My" and "It will fly away!"
Larry Whiteside earned the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for print journalists. Much of his 30-year career was spent as a beat writer for the Boston Red Sox. He joined the Boston Globe in 1973 and in 1980 became the first African-American Hall of Fame voter.
Jack O'Connell, the secretary-treasurer of the BBWAA, will present the award to Whiteside's son, Tony.
Hall of Fame chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark will present the first Buck O'Neil Lifetime Award, which will be given posthumously to O'Neil. Hall of Famer Joe Morgan will speak on O'Neil's behalf.
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P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.
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