Hall of Fame season continues with the Baseball Hall’s announcement of the eight names on the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee for Managers/Executives/Umpires.  The Committee will meet on December 3 at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, and the results will be shared that night at 7:30 on MLB Tonight on the MLB Network.

To enter the Hall, the candidate must receive 75 percent of the 16-person group. 

Here are the nominees:

Cito Gaston:  Gaston managed the Toronto Blue Jays for 12 seasons, and he helmed to back-to-back World Series wins in 1992 and 1993.  Making history as the first African-American Manager to win a World Series, Gaston has a career record of 894-837, and is a member of the Toronto Blue Jays Level of Excellence.

Davey Johnson:  Johnson managed 17 seasons in the Majors, with his career-highlight leading the New York Mets to a 1986 World Series Championship.  Johnson won two Manager of the Year Awards (1997 & 2012) and had a record of 1,372-1,071.

Jim Leyland:  Leyland is a three-time Manager of the Year (1990, 1992 & 2006), and led the Florida Marlins to their improbable 1997 World Series title.  With a career record of 1,769-1,728 and helmed the United States to victory in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Ed Montague:  Montague served as an Umpire from 1974 to 2009 and was the Crew Chief in four World Series.

Hank Peters:  Peters worked 42 years as a Baseball Executive, first becoming a General Manager with the Kansas City Athletics helping them build their dynasty.  He would later serve as the GM in Baltimore, where he constructed their 1983 Championship squad.  He later rebuilt the Cleveland Indians into a power in the 90s.

Lou Piniella:  A 23-year veteran as a Manager, Piniella brought Cincinnati a World Series in 1990, and was a three-time Manager of the Year (1995, 2001 & 2008).  He had a lifetime record of 1,835-1,712.

Joe West: West umpired from 1976 to 2021, officiating a record 43 years and 5,460 Games.  He worked six World Series and ten League Championship Series.

Bill White:  White was the first African American President of a League, having served in that capacity in the NL from 1989 to 1994.

You know that we will be paying attention December 3!

Bill White began his career with the New York Giants in 1956m, but it was not until he made it to St. Louis in 1959 where his career began to take off.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB. Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  Eventually, we plan to do that for the major colleges in the NCAA.  As such, it is news to us that the St. Louis Cardinals has announced that Tom Herr, John Tudor and Bill White were chosen for their franchise Hall of Fame.

Herr and Tudor were elected via the fan vote.  They beat out Keith Hernandez, Edgar Renteria, Steve Carlton, Lee Smith and Matt Morris to earn this honor.  White entered by the Red Ribbon Panel, which was created for players from an earlier era.

Tom Herr, Second Base (1979-88).  Herr was a member of the Cardinals 1982 World Series Championship Team, and he collected 1,021 for the franchise.  His best season was in 1985, where he was an All-Star, was fifth in MVP voting and batted .303 with 110 Runs Batted In.  While he was never a Gold Glove winner, he was a good fielder and had a Defensive bWAR of 4.0 for St. Louis.

John Tudor, Pitcher (1985-88 & 1990).  After the 1984 season, John Tudor was traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to St. Louis, and the southpaw proceeded to have the best season of his career.  Tudor finished second in Cy Young voting after going 21-8 with a 1.93 ERA and a National League leading 0.938 WHIP.  Tudor was a huge reason that the Cardinals won the Pennant, and Tudor won his first two starts, losing the third against Kansas City.  Tudor had a 62-26 record for the Redbirds.

Bill White, First Base (1959-65 & 1969).  An All-Star in five of his years in St. Louis, White was a member of 1964 World Series Championship Teams.  Playing at First Base, White was considered one of the best defensive players at that position, and he won six of his seven Gold Gloves as a Cardinal.  White had two top-ten MVP finishes and as a Cardinal had 1,241 Hits, 140 Home Runs and a .298 Batting Average.

The Cardinals Hall of Fame came into existence in 2014, and has quickly become one of the best franchise-run Halls of Fame.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to the impending members of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.

Bill White had a rocky road to get to the St. Louis Cardinals, especially considering he really wasn’t looking to become a ballplayer in the first place. 

Bill White got his start late in the National Hockey League like so many in the late 1960’s as he was one of the many who when the 1967 expanded from six to twelve teams would receive an opportunity and at age 28 he debuted for the Los Angeles Kings where he showed off an intelligent defensive game, but it was when he was traded to Chicago that his game reached the next level. 

The NHL expansion sure was a friend to Bill White as at the age of 28 he found a spot with the Los Angeles Kings and would emerge as their top blueliner.  White’s skills would increase into his 30’s and a trade to the Chicago Blackhawks would see him make three consecutive Second Team All-Stars while also being voted third in Norris Trophy voting each time.  He also went to six All-Star Games.