Wilhelm, Brock in Baseball Shrine

Lou Brock thanked lots of people for helping him reach the Hall of Fame--his mom, his wife, and others.

Hoyt Wilhelm thanked the knuckleball.

“I doubt I could have ever reached the major leagues without the knuckleball,” Wilhelm said with genuine gratitute Tuesday. “I wasn’t fast enough. I always felt that if I could get the batter to hit the knuckleball, and not give in to him, I could get him out.”

Wilhelm and Brock, both obviously delighted at their election, appeared at a midtown news conference showcasing the two newest members of the Hall of Fame.

In contrast to Wilhelm, who doesn’t mind being associated with a specialty, Brock sounded eager to be recognized as more than the premier base-stealer that he was.

When asked which of his gifts helped the most in bringing him to the Hall of Fame, Brock scarcely hesitated.

“I think my greatest gift was the ability to be a force on the field, to beat you many ways,” he said. “I was an unpredictable guy who could beat you in the clutch.”

Both Wilhelm, the first relief pitcher to enter the Hall, and Brock, who achieved 3,000 hits in addition to becoming the all-time base-stealing champion, will be inducted on July 28 at Cooperstown, N.Y.

The Veterans Committee has scheduled its annual meeting for March 6. Additional Hall of Famers may come from that conclave.

During a 21-year career, Wilhelm relied on his wildly fluttering knuckleball and became the prototype of the modern short reliever. He apppeared in an all-time record total of 1,070 games--surpassing the previous record of 906 set by Hall of Famer Cy Young.

The solemn-faced, easy-throwing right-hander from Huntersville, N.C., had a lifetime 143-122 record with a 2.52 earned run average. He developed a balk move to hold runners on base and tried to minimize wild pitches by demanding agility from his catchers.

“I always told them, ‘Once I turn it loose it’s your responsibility’,” he said. “With a man on third base I never gave in to the hitter. That would have been doing him a favor. It was up to the catcher.”

Brock spent the bulk of his 18-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals. Born on June 18, 1939 in El Dorado, Ark., he finished with 3,023 hits and set the all-time record with 938 career stolen bases.

A student of the game, Brock capitalized on his ability to read the pickoff move of a left-hander and to exude on-field “arrogance”--the readiness for challenge. He took pride in his overall game.

“If you turn back the clock, the game was centered around complete players,” he said. “When I came into the big leagues (1961), the game of specialties was beginning. Players who grew up as complete players resented the specialization.”

Chicago White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox, who died of skin cancer at age 47 in 1975, missed election by a only two votes--the slimmest rejection since the Hall was created in 1936.

Wilhelm, who failed last year by just 13 votes, was named on 381 of the 395 ballots cast by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America. Brock, only the 15th player to enter on his first attempt, collected 315 votes.