January 8, 2003 [LINK]
Hall of Fame
Former Orioles first baseman Eddie Murray was just voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the very first year he was eligible, a special honor only bestowed upon 37 previous superstars. Very few players combined his consistent superior performance with sheer likeability (Ed-die! Ed-die!), and I'm glad I had the chance to see him play on more than one occasion. His career with the Orioles (1977-1988, and for part of 1996) spanned the Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken eras, and he played with four other teams from 1989 to 1997. Catcher Gary Carter, who played for most of his career with the Expos and Mets, was voted into the Hall of Fame on the LAST year he was eligible. Whew! Congratulations to two great and deserving heroes!
WHOOPS AGAIN!!! Alert reader Steven Poppe has once again called attention to an egregious goof on my part: I uploaded the wrong page to the Baseball folder of my Web site. Sorry, folks! This being off-season, I might not have noticed for a week or more if someone hadn't let me know, so thanks very much, Steven!