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 Three of a kind Brett, Yount, Ryan make '99 Hall class finest in years
Posted: Monday July 26, 1999 11:39 AM
By Desmond M. Wallace, CNN/SI The 1999 Hall of Fame induction class features some of the best-known baseball players of the last generation. Two-time American League MVP Robin Yount, 13-time All-Star George Brett, and all-time strikeout king Nolan Ryan all are familiar names in any baseball household. Each was elected to the Hall during their very first year of eligibility with Ryan earning the second-highest voting percentage in history (98.79 percent). It is the first time since the inaugural Hall class in 1936 that three first-timers enter in the same season. The accomplishments of Ryan, Brett and Yount make this one of the more impressive Hall induction classes in years.
Who can forget 1992 when, at the age of 36 years and 11 months, Yount became the third-youngest player in major league history to reach 3,000 career hits? Only Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron got to the 3,000 mark faster. But Yount's versatility is what really set him apart. He is also one of just three players to have won a league MVP award at two different positions -- joining Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Hank Greenberg -- grabbing the 1982 AL MVP as a shortstop and the 1989 award as a center fielder. And who can forget the magical 1980 season when Brett flirted with hitting .400 all year long?
The Kansas City star's .390 average marked the highest since Ted Williams' .406 season in 1941. In his 21-year Royals career, Brett had 3,154 hits that resulted in an astounding 11 .300 seasons. Brett also had 317 homers, 665 doubles and 201 stolen bases. And, of course, who can forget Nolan Ryan's history as the game's pre-eminent strikeout artist? His 5,714 career K's are more than 1,362 more than Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax -- combined.
Remarkably, Ryan was the author 215 10-plus strikeout games. He also holds the major league mark with seven career no-hitters. And to add to his legend, Ryan, who pitched a record 27 seasons, hurled two no-nos after the age of 40. This year's class also features former star first baseman Orlando Cepeda, who becomes just the sixth Hispanic player to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1994, Cepeda fell just seven votes shy of election in his 15th and final year of eligibility on the baseball writers' ballots. But this year the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee voted Cepeda in.
His credentials? The seven-time All-Star had a .499 career slugging percentage in 17 MLB seasons, 10 .300-plus seasons and nine 90-plus RBI years. He also won the NL MVP award with the Cardinals in 1967. Longtime AL umpire Nestor Chylak, former manager Frank Selee, and former Negro League pitcher "Smokey" Joe Williams also will be posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame. But with Yount, Brett and Ryan, the Hall of Fame will induct one of its finest classes ever.
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