Negro Leagues HOF Update
 

Well, it seems that the third time's a charm.

After sending three letters to Jeff Idelson, the President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, I am happy to report that he responded with a letter back to me today regarding the status of pre-integration era Negro League baseball players and their possible induction into the Hall.

I should say that this was precipitated by a comment Mr. Idelson made to the Sporting News in January 2016, where he stated that the Special Election of Negro Leaguers back in 2006 was the final time Cooperstown would consider their candidacies.

Here is some of what Mr. Iselson's wrote to me:

"in July, our Board of Directors voted to re-instate voting on Negro League candidates. Candidates will next be considered in 2020 as part of the Early Baseball category.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the "Early Baseball" elections (1871-1949) will occur every ten years, so after that, the next one will be in 2030, 2040, etc.

Still, I am glad that many of the greats to ever play the game will hopefully receive the recognition they deserve.

Scott

Great job, Scott. Very excited to hear the good news!

Great news!

Fantastic news!! Well done, my friends!

I cannot take any credit for this. The press release announcing this news out of Cooperstown came out the same day (July 23) as my first letter to Mr. Idelson and the Board of Directors was dropped in the mailbox.

Guess it got overshadowed by all the hullabaloo surrounding the 2016 HOF inductees.

But at least now it's all clarified....

Sure, it's great news from every non-selfish perspective. But now I'll have to pay thousands of dollars for Cuban cards of more Negro League greats. Where am I supposed to find a Dick Lundy?

Paul:

Since 2010, Hake's Auctions has brought far more Negro League cards to market than anyone else. I believe there were two Dick Lundy rookie cards included during that time period. Many, but far from all, of these rarities originated from the famed Richard Merkin collection and came with COA's from Hake's stating such. There have also been many great non-Merkin items presented by Hake's, including an incredible 1923-24 Tomas Gutierrez complete set of Cuban baseball cards and several wonderful items from Martin Dihigo's own personal collection.

That is definitely great news, although unfortunate it will be every 10 years

It's a start and we are on the right path. Now, to speculate and figure out what is a good player to invest in.

Yeah, will any of us be alive to see the 2140 induction of Arthur "Rats" Henderson?