Hal Richman Nominated for National Honor
You May Vote to Induct Him into Shrine of the Eternals
By Glenn Guzzo
Strat-O-Matic creator Hal Richman is among the nominees for election to the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals, an annual election that honors, in the words of the organization, “individuals – from the obscure to the well known – who have altered the baseball world in ways that supersede statistics.”
Twenty-one honorees have been inducted over the past seven years and three more will be chosen this year.
Membership in the Baseball Reliquary – and the voting rights that come with it – is open to the public. To be eligible to vote, you must pay $25 annual membership dues by March 31. Election packets, containing ballots and biographical profiles of all candidates, will be mailed to Baseball Reliquary members on April 1.
Strat-O-Matic fans could make a difference in this voting. Reliquary Executive Director Terry Cannon said that 184 ballots were cast last year, with a bit more than 200 expected this time.
The Shrine of the Eternals already includes Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige and Bill Veeck, Jr. It also includes such baseball “characters” as Jim Bouton, Mark Fidrych, Bill “Spaceman” Lee and Jimmy Piersall. And such non-players as union leader Marvin Miller, umpire Pam Postema, long-time
This year, Richman is one of 50 nominees who include Yogi Berra, Dizzy Dean, Ryne Duren, Tug McGraw, Rusty Staub and Casey Stengel and such non-players as Negro Leagues team owner Effa Manley, photographer Charles M. Conlon, announcer Ernie Harwell and writer Bill James. (See the full list of nominees below).
Some of these nominees have been on the Reliquary’s ballots all eight years. Richman is one of 12 first-year nominees.
Here is the ballot biography for Richman:
HAL RICHMAN – as a precocious teen, Richman devised a baseball card game that would evolve by the early 1960s into Strat-O-Matic Baseball, a tabletop baseball simulation that swiftly captured the hearts and imaginations of baseball enthusiasts everywhere, from little leaguers to big leaguers and beyond, including the likes of pro players Keith Hernandez, Len Dykstra, Ken Singleton, announcer Jon Miller, and thousands of more adherents, each attracted to the game’s playability, superior statistics, and devotion to Richman as a square-shooter.
The Baseball Reliquary describes itself as “a Southern California-based organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history.”
The three new inductees will be announced in May, with the Induction Day ceremony scheduled for
For additional information on the Shrine of the Eternals, contact Terry Cannon, Executive Director of the Baseball Reliquary, at
THE SHRINE OF THE ETERNALS – CANDIDATES FOR THE 2006 ELECTION
The number to the right of candidates’ names indicates the number of years on the Shrine of the Eternals ballot.
11. Hank Aguirre (2) 26. Dr. Frank Jobe (4)
12. Lee Allen (3) 27. Effa Manley (8)
13. Eliot Asinof (2) 28. Mike Marshall (New!)
14. Billy Bean (3) 29. Pepper Martin (New!)
15. Yogi Berra (8) 30. Gene Mauch (New!)
16. Ping Bodie (New!) 31. Tug McGraw (3)
17. Chet Brewer (7) 32. Max McLeary (New!)
18. Rocky Bridges (New!) 33. John Meeden (New!)
19. Bill Buckner (6) 34. Willard Mullin (2)
10. Helen Callaghan (3) 35. Bobo Newsom (New!)
11. Charles M. Conlon (5) 36. Phil Pote (4)
12. Roger Craig (2) 37. Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe (2)
13. Steve Dalkowski (8) 38. J.R. Richard (7)
14. Dizzy Dean (6) 39. Hal Richman (New!)
15. Ed Delahanty (3) 40. Mickey Rivers (3)
16. Ryne Duren (New!) 41. Johnny Sain (New!)
17. Eddie Feigner (6) 42. Bob Sheppard (3)
18. Lisa Fernandez (6) 43. Rusty Staub (New!)
19. Rube Foster (8) 44. Casey Stengel (8)
20. Ted Giannoulas (4) 45. Fernando Valenzuela (6)
21. Josh Gibson (8) 46. Fay Vincent (5)
22. Jim “Mudcat” Grant (2) 47. Rube Waddell (8)
23. Pete Gray (8) 48. Sol White (3)
24. Ernie Harwell (3) 49. Kenichi Zenimura (6)
25. Bill James (4) 50. Don Zimmer (2)
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