Colorado Springs - 04.14.04 - A dozen greats of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) will enter the PCL Hall of Fame. The Class of 2004, led by Major League veterans Gene Mauch and Frank Crosetti, had careers which spanned over 50 years of the League's storied history.
Inductees to the PCL Hall of Fame are selected by the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame Committee, a blue-ribbon panel composed of Minor League Baseball, Coast League, and National Baseball historians.
This is the second group of players to be admitted to the PCL Hall since it was revived in 2003, during the league's centennial celebration.
The Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame was created in 1936 by the Helms Athletic Foundation in Los Angeles, California.
In its heyday, Helms also operated the Halls of Fame for Major League Baseball, Golf, College Basketball, Tennis, Swimming, Auto Racing, Professional Football, Track and Field, and College Football.
In 1952, the PCL Hall of Fame ceased operation. It was reactivated in conjunction with 2003’s Pacific Coast League Centennial Celebration.
People ask whether the "Hall of Fame" of a minor league has any relevence. Remember, though that these teams and leagues were not under the thumb of the major leagues until the 1930s. Further, some leagues were more in servitude than others.
The Pacific Coast League was probably the most independent of all of the leagues farming for the American and National even when it was part of the system. The farthest from the reach of the major league club, it had its own stars which it took some pains to keep. It lived in its own universe until television and the encroachment of the major league clubs looking for markets to absorb westward took their toll.
"A modern fan, looking at the players involved, tries to figure out how good the team was by looking at what their players did when they got to the majors, " says Bill James in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. "But the Pacific Coast League was a good league, and the things that were done there did not need to be validated by major league performance in order to become real."
The Pacific Coast League has been graced by so many great talents that made it to the majors, from Joe DiMaggio to Sandy Koufax to Mike Piazza, that they are almost too numerous to list.
There are greats like DiMaggio in the PCL Hall of Fame. Most are players whose careers shined best and brightest in the PCL. We include their time in the majors. Many of them did not play well there, but often for reasons that had as much to do with team chemistry, or a disdain for PCL players on some teams which did not give them enough regular playing time.
The inductees of 2004 are players whose achievements may never make the major league Hall of Fame, but whose achievements will not be forgotten by the fans of the towns where they played.
The 2004 inductees are...
