Murray, Carter Elected to Hall of Fame
NEW YORK – When Cooperstown came calling for Gary Carter and Eddie Murray, they answered in vastly different ways.
Carter shouted and punched the air in joy when he heard the words “Hall of Fame.”
Murray could hardly speak, but for a much more somber reason.
The only switch-hitter with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, Murray became just the 38th player to be elected to the Hall in his first year of eligibility Tuesday.
The steady, silent first baseman of the Baltimore Orioles could not enjoy the moment. Later in the day in Southern California, he was to attend the funeral of his sister, who died Jan. 2 at 38.
“Unfortunately, I cannot speak with you today because of the passing of my younger sister, Tanja, after her long-fought battle with kidney disease,” Murray said in a statement.
“Although I dedicated my professional career to the game, I have dedicated my life to my family. The elation I feel by being recognized for my achievements on the field is overshadowed by the anguish of losing someone so dear to me,” he said.
Always exuberant, Carter finally made it on his sixth try. An 11-time All-Star catcher with Montreal and the New York Mets, he may become the first player inducted with an Expos cap on his plaque.
“I got overly excited and screamed,” Carter said. “Now we can do a little celebrating.”
Murray easily exceeded the 75 percent necessary for election, getting chosen on 85 percent of the ballots (423 of 496).
Carter got in with 78 percent (387). He fell 11 votes short last year at 72.7 percent.
Murray and Carter played together for Los Angeles in 1991. They became the sixth set of teammates to be elected together; Minnesota’s Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield made it in 2001.
No one else came close in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Carry-over candidates Bruce Sutter, Jim Rice and Andre Dawson were right around 50 percent, and first-timers Ryne Sandberg and Lee Smith didn’t even reach that mark. Darryl Kile, the St. Louis pitcher who died last season, got token support.
Pete Rose, ineligible for the ballot because he’s on baseball’s permanently banned list, got 18 write-in votes √≥ the same as last year. Rose and commissioner Bud Selig’s aides have been negotiating terms of a possible reinstatement for the career hits leader.
Kile, who got seven votes, was among several players who did not receive the necessary 5 percent to stay on the ballot. Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams was among four players who did not get a vote.
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