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AUDIO/VIDEO
Cooperstown's Class of 2001
 The 2001 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Game footage courtesy of MLB.com).
Real: 28.8
Class of 2001
Kirby Puckett has a message for his dearly-departed mother.
avi: 1360 k
Real: 56.6 | ISDN
Cable Modem
Class of 2001
Dave Winfield recalls the day he chose to play baseball.
avi: 1780 k
Real: 56.6 | ISDN
Cable Modem
Class of 2001
Bill Mazeroski is proud to be going into the Hall for his defensive ability.
avi: 1970 k
Real: 56.6 | ISDN
Cable Modem
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Sunday, August 5, 2001
Winfield, Puckett, Maz enter Hall
Associated Press
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Yes, there really is crying in baseball
-- Bill Mazeroski broke down during his Hall of Fame induction, and
some of baseball's greats cried along with him.
|  | | Kirby Puckett shows off his Hall of Fame plaque on Sunday. |
Mazeroski, the former Pittsburgh Pirates fielding whiz who
waited 29 years for Hall of Fame selectors to recognize that
defense is as integral to the game as hitting and pitching, was
overcome by emotion and began crying a few minutes into his speech
Sunday and couldn't continue.
In a moment as poignant and as moving as any in the memory of
many of the former Hall of Famers who make the annual pilgrimage to
Cooperstown, Mazeroski said the long wait and the thrill of
receiving an honor he never thought he would get proved too much.
"This is going to be hard," Mazeroski said, wiping tears from
his eyes barely 90 seconds after his speech began. "I thought
having my Pirates number retired was the greatest thing that ever
happened to me ... I didn't think I would make it into the Hall of
Fame."
Then, pausing, the tears welling and his emotions getting the
best of him, Mazeroski held up his prepared speech before a
now-hushed crowd of more than 20,000 and said, "I think you can
kiss these 12 pages down the drain."
Wiping away more tears, he cut short his talk after bearly three
minutes of speaking, tucked his speech into his jacket pocket and
said, "I don't think I'm going to make it."
Mazeroski's unrehearsed breakdown -- in contrast to Dave
Winfield's skillfully delivered, polished but lengthy speech --
clearly touched a nerve with his fellow Hall of Famers, some of
whom were seen wiping away their own tears.
Kirby Puckett, the former Twins star who was cheered on by
busloads of fans who traveled nearly a full day to attend, didn't
cry during his own speech but said afterward he began crying once
Mazeroski did.
"I felt it for Maz," Puckett said. "I cried for Maz. If you
can't cry for a guy who couldn't even start his speech before he
started crying, you don't have an emotional bone in your body."
At a post-ceremony news conference, Mazeroski said he has always
been emotional -- he once said, "I even cry at sad commercials" --
and he feared for months he would break down with so many friends,
family and former teammates in attendance.
About 15-20 of Mazeroski's teammates -- by far the most of any of
the four players enshrined Sunday -- sat within clear view of
Mazeroski in a special section just off to the side of the stage.
"That's the way I am and it's not going to change," said
Mazeroski, who turned more double plays than any second baseman in
history and is widely considered the best fielder to ever play the
position. "I've done it my whole life. I knew it was going to
happen."
A few minutes after he finished, Mazeroski asked ceremony host
George Grande to thank his wife, two sons, the Pirates and his
former teammates after failing to mention them during brief remarks
that began, "I think defense belongs in the Hall of Fame."
Puckett, the last player to be inducted, sensed many in the
crowd were getting restless during the 2-hour, 40-minute ceremony
on a sunny, 88-degree and delivered his speech in about half the
time that Winfield did.
Puckett, whose 12-year career was cut short at age 34 because of
glaucoma, talked of wanting to do nothing but play baseball in the
Chicago housing project where he grew up after watching Ernie Banks
and Billy Williams play for the Cubs when he was 5.
"I'd be walking down the street, my bat and glove over my
shoulder and my books in my other hands, and the drug dealers and
the gang members would say, `Hey, Puck, don't you want to hang out
with us, drink a little?" Puckett said. "I told them I had a
higher calling."
Puckett, who had more hits in his first 10 seasons than any
player ever, said he was spanked innumerable times by his late
mother for breaking windows or furniture while playing ball.
"But I'm sure she'd be smiling now, saying, `My baby's in the
Hall of Fame,' " he said.
Unlike Puckett and Mazeroski, who played for only one team each
during their careers, Winfield played for six and took time to
mention former teammates on every team, plus many of the 40 Hall of
Famers who were in attendance.
Winfield, one of only seven players with at least 3,000 hits and
400 home runs, even thanked Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, with
whom he feuded for years even while being a perennial All-Star
during his 8½ Yankees seasons.
"He's said he regrets a lot of things that happened," Winfield
said. "We're fine now. Things have changed."
Still, Winfield chose to wear a San Diego Padres cap on his Hall
of Fame plaque -- he spent his first eight seasons with the Padres --
rather than a Yankees cap, even though he enjoyed much of his
success in New York.
Also enshrined was the late Hilton Smith, a Negro League star
who enjoyed considerable success despite pitching in the shadow of
teammate Satchel Paige. Los Angeles Times baseball writer Ross
Newhan received the J.G. Taylor Spink award for writers, while
Rafel "Felo" Ramirez, who has broadcast games in Spanish since
the 1940s, received the Ford C. Frick award for broadcasters.
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