For the true fan, entering the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, is like being admitted to a shrine.
Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch showed correspondent Mark Whitaker the plaques honoring the patron saints of the game, five gentlemen who were the first class of inductees in 1936: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, and Walter Johnson.
Yankees Hall of Famer Dave Winfield is going to give the speech this morning welcoming Fowler to the Hall. “He found a game that he loved,” he told Whitaker, “and it was with him throughout his life, as a player, a coach, a promoter, and a person who loved the game in a very different time in America.”
Fowler played alongside whites for about 10 years, before the racial door slammed shut. In 1920 the Negro Leagues formed teams of professional players who roamed the country. One alumnus is another of this year’s inductees: the Cuban-born Minnie Miñoso, who became known as Mr. White Sox. Others include Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Jackie Robinson.
Sixteen years ago, the Hall of Fame honored some of the players from back then, inducting 17 Negro Leaguers in 2006. At the time, there was one Negro Leagues veteran who was considered a shoo-in: John Jordan O’Neil Jr., known far and wide as Buck.
