Union executive Marvin Miller, catcher Ted Simmons elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Marvin Miller, the union leader who revolutionized baseball by empowering players to negotiate multimillion-dollar contracts and to play for teams of their own choosing, was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Sunday along with former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons.
After falling short in his first seven times on veterans committee ballots, Miller received 12 of 16 votes from this year's 16-man modern committee, exactly the 75% required. Simmons was on 13 ballots, and former Boston outfielder Dwight Evans was third with eight.
Simmons, an eight-time All-Star during a 21-year big league career, was a switch-hitter who batted .285 with 248 homers and 1,389 RBIs for St. Louis (1968-80), Milwaukee (1981-85) and Atlanta (1986-8
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Despite his accomplishments, Simmons was up for election by voters from the BBWAA just once. He drew only 3.7% support in 1994 and was removed from future BBWAA ballots.
Miller and Simmons will be inducted during ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York, on July 26, along with any players chosen next month by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.