baseball hall of fame

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Retired managers Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox have been unanimously elected to the baseball Hall of Fame by the expansion era committee. Each of the inductees won more than 2,000 games in managerial careers that spanned more than four decades...

Baseball fans can help make the season merrier for families in need and experience the magic of the holidays in Cooperstown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s annual holiday celebration.

I have been going to Cooperstown every year since 2002 for Hall of Fame Weekend, one year as a fan and the other 10 as a media member.  Not this year. No living members were inducted (first time since 1965) so I bagged it.  And even from afar, it had the feel of a very different weekend.

Pete Rose was banned from baseball on August 24, 1989 by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti for placing high stakes bets within the game, and even for and against his own team he managed, the Cincinnati Reds.  Rose is still banned from baseball and Hall of Fame induction.

There is no question that Mariano Rivera is a Hall of Fame closer.   But the question now is, Will Rivera get into Cooperstown on the first ballot like a Ty Cobb or Ted Williams or Hank Aaron or Ernie Banks or Willie Mays or Cal Ripken Jr...

Mariano Rivera, the ultimate baseball x-factor of the last several decades, is hanging up his spikes at the end of this season.  His teammate, Derek Jeter, is in the final year of a three-year deal with a player option for 2014, which he will likely pick-up, assuming he can play at somewhat of a high level in his return from an ankle injury...

Jorge Posada played 17 seasons for the New York Yankees and compiled a .273 batting average, 275 home runs, 1,065 RBI and 1,664 hits.  His best qualities, however, were handling just about every style of pitcher and many egos on the staff...

Andy Pettitte is one of the great Yankee pitchers of all-time.  He has the postseason numbers and the wins, but his ERA is high.  Plus, he will always be connected to steroids, HGH and Roger Clemens.  Is he a Hall of Famer?  Vote here:

With the Yankees recently having played in Colorado, one of the great baseball players of the last two decades (save 2008, 2010 and 2012, but everyone has bad or injured years over the course of a career) wasn't talked about much again.  He has been underrated through the years.  Why?  Who knows?  But Todd Helton is a future Hall of Famer.

Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter and now Robinson Cano.  Those are the only five Yankees to collect 1,500 hits before the age of 31.

Over 2,600 hits.  A .322 lifetime batting average.  More than 3,400 total bases.  450+ steals.  1,200+ runs scored.  Over 600 RBI and over 100 home runs for a non-power player.  Ichiro Suzuki is not a Hall of Famer.  He is a first ballot Hall of Famer.

After weeks of debate and enhanced drama, "judgment day" was finally upon us - would anyone be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2013? The answer was finally provided by Jeff Idelson, president of the Hall of Fame, and the answer was no.