On Baseball | Veterans Committee softening?

Is the time right for the hard-liners on the revamped Veterans Committee to finally admit someone to the Hall of Fame?

It certainly feels that way.

Results of the biennial election will be released Tuesday, and there seems to be a good chance that someone will join Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn on induction day in Cooperstown on July 29.

Ron Santo and Gil Hodges both came up just eight votes shy of election two years ago and one or both could finally get through the gates to baseball immortality.

The 84-member Veterans Committee is made up of 61 living Hall of Famers, 14 Frick Award winners (broadcasters), eight Spink Award winners (writers) and one holdover from the previous Veterans Committee. Seventy-five percent of the vote is needed for election. The new committee has not elected a candidate in two previous votes.

The old committee elected players such as Phil Rizzuto and Rich Ashburn after they had failed to be elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The old committee, made up of a group baseball lifers, was often accused of cronyism and was abolished after the 2001 election of Bill Mazeroski.

As a member of the new Veterans Committee, Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt once said it would be highly unlikely that anyone who didn't pass grade in 15 years on the writers' ballot would be elected by the new voting body.

"It would be hard for me to vote for anyone who didn't get in the first time," Schmidt said in March 2002.

Three years later, in the new committee's second election, Schmidt softened his stance and voted for two candidates - Jim Kaat and Joe Torre.

Now, Schmidt has eased up even more. He has recently spoken out in favor of Santo and Kaat. Seeing how much old rival Gary Carter cherished his election by the writers in 2003 helped relax Schmidt's once hard-line stance. Schmidt summed up his changed viewpoint in a article that he wrote for the Associated Press in December.

"It's amazing how your perception changes once you're in," he wrote. "What does 'Hall of Fame' mean? . . . Is it the best ever, is it all-time greats, is it the best from an era, is it great defensive players, is it great ambassadors, a few unique careers, strong leaders, great umpires, on and on?

"Yes, it has become all of that. . . . So this year, in keeping with that evolution, why not let a deserving few sip our wine? Picture the members' dinner with a few more faces, the smiles will do your heart good."

The mind-set of Hall of Famers like Schmidt coupled with a very strong ballot have some baseball observers believing that the new Veterans Committee, after pitching shutouts in 2003 and 2005, will elect a candidate this week.

Santo, the former Cubs third baseman, and Hodges, the former Dodgers first baseman, headline the ballot, which includes 27 former players and 15 former managers, umpires and executives.

Of note on the composite ballot (managers, umpires, executives) are Buzzie Bavasi, Charles O. Finley, Doug Harvey, Whitey Herzog, Bowie Kuhn, Billy Martin, Marvin Miller, Walter O'Malley, Bill White and Dick Williams.

Notable players, in addition to Santo and Hodges, include Kaat, Torre, Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Curt Flood, Sparky Lyle, Roger Maris, Thurman Munson, Don Newcombe, Al Oliver, Tony Oliva, Maury Wills and Delaware County's own Mickey Vernon, who was President Dwight D. Eisenhower's favorite player when he manned first base for the Washington Senators.

Vernon, 88, was a two-time American League batting champ and seven-time all-star during a 20-year career that ended in 1960. He had 2,495 hits and led the league four times in fielding percentage at first base.

If you're from Delaware County and you ever run into Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky, tell him where you're from and he will say: "Mickey Vernon should be in the Hall of Fame." Guaranteed.

Local baseball author Rich Westcott has spent much time lobbying for Vernon in recent months.

"It would be great if Mickey got in," Westcott said. "I think half of Delaware County would go to the induction."

We'll find out whether anyone is going Tuesday, when the - dare we say? - kinder, gentler Veterans Committee has its say.

In a recent Q&A with the Sporting News, Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels says he will buy catcher Chris Coste a new Cadillac Escalade if they ever team on a no-hitter.

Hamels better start saving up, because former teammate Randy Wolf thinks he indeed will pitch a no-hitter. And soon.

"He's awesome," Wolf said of Hamels. "If he's healthy, he'll do great things. He's just got that mentality. He's got that great positive ego. He believes he should be the best out there, but not to the point where he feels like he's a better person or looks down on people. That's huge. He just believes he can be the best, and he's got the stuff to do it. He'll throw a no-hitter. I would not be surprised if he did it soon."

Could the harmless trash talk that has volleyed between the Phillies and Mets camps in recent days signal something that has never really existed between the teams - namely, a rivalry? Over the years, there hasn't been much of a rivalry between the teams because they've seldom been successful at the same time.

In the 45 seasons that the Mets have been in existence, they and the Phillies have had winning records in the same season just six times: 2006, 2005, 2001, 1986, 1976 and 1975.

Only twice (1986 and 2006) have they finished one-two in the National League East, and the races weren't close. The Mets won by 211/2 games in 1986 and 12 last season.

Often, the two teams have had North Pole-South Pole seasons. When the Phils won division titles in 1993, 1983, 1978 and 1977, the Mets finished last. When the Mets won the NL East in 1988 and 1973, the Phils finished last.

Maybe this is the year the rivalry is born.