Baseball Hall of Fame - Inductees

Inductees

See also: List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame

Among baseball fans, "Hall of Fame" means not only the museum and facility in Cooperstown, New York, but the pantheon of players, managers, umpires, executives, and pioneers who have been enshrined in the Hall. The first five men elected were Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson, named in 1936. As of December 2012, 300 individuals had been elected to the Hall of Fame, including 208 former Major Leaguers, 35 Negro Leaguers, 19 managers, 10 umpires, and 28 pioneers, executives, and organizers. The newest members are Barry Larkin and Ron Santo. The most recently elected individuals are executive Jacob Ruppert, umpire Hank O'Day, and player Deacon White, all chosen by the Veterans Committee in December 2012 for the induction class of 2013. In addition to honoring Hall of Fame inductees, the National Baseball Hall of Fame has presented 36 men with the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting, 63 with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for excellence in baseball writing, and two with the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to baseball. While Frick and Spink Award honorees are not members of the Hall of Fame, they are recognized in an exhibit in the Hall of Fame's library. O'Neil Award honorees are also not Hall of Fame members, but are listed alongside a permanent statue of the award's namesake and first recipient, Buck O'Neil, that stands at the Hall.