Today's Hours: 9 A.M. - 5 P.M.
Today's Hours: 9 A.M. - 5 P.M.
3rd Baseman
3rd Baseman
Games
Birth year
For many players, fans and coaches, Scott Rolen was the picture of what a baseball player should be: The way he played the game, his accomplishments on the field and how he composed himself off the field.
"Rolen's the perfect baseball player," longtime manager Ned Yost told Sports Illustrated in 2004. "It's his tenacity, his preparation, the way he plays. He tries to do everything fundamentally sound. And he puts the team first – there's no fanfare with him."
Explore the artifacts that honor and give insight into the lives and careers of baseball's greatest heroes.
Scott Rolen used this bat as a St. Louis Cardinal in Game 5 of the 2006 WS. He extended his post-season hitting streak to 10 games. (Milo Stewart Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)
Scott Rolen wore this Phillies road jersey in 1998 when he earned the first of his eight Gold Glove Awards. (Milo Stewart Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
1st Baseman
1st Baseman
Games
Birth year
At first base or in the manager’s office, Gil Hodges made the impossible seem possible during 27 seasons in the big leagues.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
2nd Baseman
2nd Baseman
Games
Birth year
“Baseball was always kind of a struggle for me,” Billy Herman said. “I guess maybe I was doing all right and didn’t realize it.”
Any evidence of Herman’s struggles as a player is difficult to find. From the time he spent his first full season in the big league as a 22-year-old in 1932, Herman was one of the best players in baseball.
A 10-time All-Star, Herman finished his career with a .304 batting average and 2,345 hits despite serving in the Navy for two years during World War II.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Executive
Executive
Primary Team Or Role
Birth year
Through an unlikely path from Colorado sportswriter to commissioner of baseball, Ford C. Frick oversaw monumental changes and achievements during his 31 years of leadership in the game.
He also helped ensure those achievements would be preserved forever in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Frick was a sportswriter and high school English teacher in Colorado Springs when he was invited to join the staff of the New York American in 1922. It was the first of a series of historic events in Frick’s life when he was, as he put it, in “the right place at the right time.”
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
“The pressure never lets up. Don’t matter what you did yesterday. That’s history. It’s tomorrow that counts. So you worry all the time. It never ends. Lord, baseball is a worrying thing.” – Stan Coveleski
Stan Coveleski took his baseball seriously – after all, it was his ticket out of the coal mines surrounding his birthplace of Shamokin, Pa. At age 12, he quit school to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week in the mines, bringing home $3.75 to his large family. Amazingly, he still found time to practice at baseball, after work, in the dark.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Center Fielder
Center Fielder
Games
Birth year
“Charlie was a tremendous left-handed hitter who could also bunt, steal a hundred bases a year, and cover center field as well as anyone before him or since…he was like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Tris Speaker rolled into one.” – Buck O’Neil
As a youth, Oscar Charleston was a batboy for his hometown Indianapolis ABC’s. At the age of 15, he enlisted in the military and was sent to the Phillipines, where he played baseball with the 24th Negro Infantry. In 1915, still a teenager, Charleston returned to Indianapolis and quickly became a star center fielder for the ABC’s.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Center Fielder
Center Fielder
Games
Birth year
Many Hall of Famers made it to the big leagues with their bats or their arms. Max Carey did it with his legs.
Carey, nicknamed “Scoops”, set a National League record with 738 career stolen bases and led the NL in steals 10 times.
“He was just as fast between the ears as he was with his feet,” said sportswriter Joe Williams. “That's what made him harder to stop than a run in a silk stocking.”
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
“I always felt if I had had a normal hand, I would have been a greater pitcher.” – Mordecai Brown
For any other pitcher, a right-hand mangled in a childhood accident might have derailed a career before it started.
But for Mordecai “Three-Fingered” Brown, the incident on a local farm became the genesis of a Hall of Fame career.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Right Fielder
Right Fielder
Games
Birth year
“No one ever quarreled with Sam. No one ever knew him with all his strength to be rough or brutal. He was always even-tempered, simple and plain.” – Charlie Bennett
During a time when the play was rough and so were many of the players, being recognized as “plain” was complimentary, and only reserved for true gentlemen. Samuel “Big Sam” Thompson spent time over 15 seasons in the big leagues protecting that reputation while also building a name for himself at the plate.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Right Fielder
Right Fielder
Games
Birth year
Sam Rice didn’t enter the majors until he was 25 years old. He started in the big leagues as a pitcher and developed into a great hitter, with a .322 lifetime average, 2,987 total hits and six seasons with more than 200 hits.
After making a total of nine appearances as a pitcher in 1915-16, Rice switched to the outfield and batted .302 in his first full season in 1917. He hit better than .300 in 13 full seasons during his 20-year career.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
