Morgan and Palmer Elected to Hall of Fame

Jim Palmer and Joe Morgan, who made great teams even better in the 1970s, on Tuesday night became the 20th and 21st players elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.

Palmer got the second-highest vote total ever for a pitcher. Morgan comfortably made it to Cooperstown, too.

It was, however, another year of disappointment for several other top pitchers. Gaylord Perry, a 300-game winner, came up short and Ferguson Jenkins and Jim Bunning also failed.

Palmer was named on 411 of 444 votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America. His 92.5% trailed only Bob Feller’s 93.75% in 1962 among pitchers.

Players need 75% to be elected to the Hall and this year, that meant 333 ballots. Morgan got 363 votes for 81.7%.

Perry, meanwhile, missed with 320 votes, or 72%. Jenkins got 296 votes and Bunning received 257.

Palmer was 268-152 in 19 full seasons, all with the Orioles, and won an American League-record three Cy Young Awards.

Palmer’s 2.86 career earned run average ranks fourth all-time among pitchers with 3,000 innings and he was a 20-game winner eight times.

“There was a lot of doubt in my mind in terms of getting in the first year. There are a lot of guys who deserve it who don’t,” Palmer said from a celebration party in Towson, Md. “To get in the first year is really special.”

Palmer pitched 3,948 innings and never allowed a grand slam in the big leagues, although Johnny Bench hit one against him in the minors.

Morgan was one of just nine players to win consecutive most valuable player awards. He did it in 1975-76 with the Reds’ World Series champions.

“To make it in on the first ballot is unbelievable,” Morgan said in New York.

Minutes after his election, Morgan talk to one of his former managers, Sparky Anderson.

“In 1975, at the end of the season, he (Sparky) came to me and said, ‘You’re going to be the most valuable player in the league,’ ” Morgan recalled. “And he said, ‘Joe, you need one of those to get into the Hall of Fame.’ “That was the first time I thought about going into the Hall of Fame. I started thinking maybe. I never thought for sure.”

Morgan batted .271 with 268 home runs, 1,133 RBIs and 689 stolen bases in 22 full years. He was the National League rookie of the year in 1965, the same year Palmer started, and both players ended their careers in 1984.

Bunning, who missed election by four votes two years ago, pitched no-hitters in both leagues. This is his 14th year of eligibility with one more remaining before being passed to the Veterans Committee.

Forty-four players were on ballot, including 15 pitchers. Orlando Cepeda was sixth with 211 votes, Tony Oliva got 142 and Bill Mazeroski received 131.