2 weekends ago, the newest members of the most elite baseball club were welcomed by fellow members and fans alike. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas and managers Joe Torre, Tony Larussa and Bobby Cox were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Over 50 past inductees were on hand for the event, including former Brave and home run king Hank Aaron and pitching great Nolan Ryan, who are less frequent visitors to the annual event.
The speeches were all good and unique in their own ways. They can be all be seen on MLB.com’s site.
The crowd on-hand for the event was the third largest ever with approximately 48,000. Visitors to Cooperstown not only got the benefit of seeing this great class of inductees, but they also were able to help celebrate the Hall’s 75th anniversary of it’s grand opening. Here’s a picture of inductees that were on hand for that grand opening 75 years ago:
HOF Members at 1939 Grand Opening
Back row: Honus Wagner, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Walter Johnson.
Seated: Eddie Collins, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack, and Cy Young.
Ty Cobb is absent from the photo; he had missed a train and arrived late
