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"Who is Not in Hall and Should be," by Dave Anderson, March 13, 2002, NY Times

YOGI BERRA wasn't there, but his spirit was. Baseball's preeminent philosopher was in Florida as a Yankees instructor. But at yesterday's preview of the "Baseball as America" exhibit, which opens Saturday at the American Museum of Natural History, one of Yogi's tenets was mentioned by Dale Petrosky, the president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

"Yogi once told me," Petrosky said, "that there wouldn't be a Hall of Fame without the Hall of Famers."

Sitting behind Petrosky were 26 Hall of Famers, from Hank Aaron, Bob Feller, Stan Musial and Duke Snider to Brooks Robinson, Joe Morgan, Dave Winfield and Ozzie Smith.

All of these Hall of Famers also represented a preview of Cooperstown's restructured Veterans Committee.

Beginning next year, the five dozen living Hall of Famers, along with the baseball writers and broadcasters honored in Cooperstown, N.Y., will each receive a ballot with 25 to 30 candidates. Each can vote for as many as 10, or for none. Any candidate on at least 75 percent of the ballots will be elected.

So yesterday's Hall of Famers were asked the same question: who is not in the Hall of Fame but should be? "Gil Hodges and Tony Oliva," Duke Snider said. "Most people don't understand how important Gil was as the Dodgers' first baseman. The example he set. The way he went about playing. Oliva was a great hitter, three batting titles with the Twins."

Ralph Kiner and George Kell also chose Hodges, with Kell adding, "He was an A-No. 1 gentleman; that's what we need in the Hall."

Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst each named Marty Marion, the lanky shortstop who was their Cardinals teammate in the 1940's.

"Marty was a great shortstop," Musial said. "People forget that he was the National League's most valuable player in 1944."

Orlando Cepeda, Lou Brock and Joe Morgan each named Maury Wills, the Dodgers' shortstop who had 104 stolen bases in 1962.

"Maury brought back the stolen base," Morgan said. "He changed the dynamics of the game. You knew most home run hitters would hit a home run or strike out; you could just play your position. When Maury was on first base, you had to pay attention to him every pitch."

Morgan also named Jim Rice, the Red Sox slugger. Brock offered Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer, Cubs third baseman Ron Santo and Buck O'Neil, a longtime manager in the Negro leagues and later a Cubs scout and coach. Ernie Banks also named O'Neil.

"Buck deserves to be in the Hall as a scout," Banks said. "Scouts are so important, but they've been forgotten in Cooperstown."

Bob Feller named Cecil Travis, a Washington Senators shortstop who batted .359 with 218 hits in 1941, and catcher Wally Schang.

"Cecil lost his toes in the Battle of the Bulge; when he came back after the war, he was never the same," Feller said. "Wally Schang caught Babe Ruth on the Red Sox, then played with the Babe on the Yankees. When he was catching, Ty Cobb was scared to death to slide into home. I got to know him when he was the Indians' bullpen coach."

Hank Aaron suggested Lew Burdette, his Milwaukee Braves teammate who beat the Yankees three times in the 1957 World Series.

"Look at Lew's record," said the man who hit 755 home runs. "He won 203 games when winning 200 games really meant something."

Robin Roberts named two players still on the annual baseball writers' ballot: outfielder Andre Dawson and the left-hander Jim Kaat.

"I'm surprised Andre didn't get in this year," Roberts said. "Jim won 283 games; that should be enough to be elected."

Dave Winfield named Dawson, along with Gary Carter, the catcher for the Expos and the Mets, and Dave Parker, the slugger with the Pirates and the Reds. Ozzie Smith mentioned Dave Concepcion, the shortstop on Cincinnati's Big Red machine. Juan Marichal named Oliva and Luis Tiant, the Cuban right-hander with the whirl-a-gig windup. Brooks Robinson also named Santo.

"Ron had Gold Gloves, he hit, he had impact on the game," Robinson said. "But the Cubbies never won. I guess the writers figured that three guys off that team were enough ? Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins ? but that's not a valid reason. If a guy belongs, he belongs."

Monte Irvin had a laundry list of names ? the Yankees' right-hander Allie Reynolds, Yankees second baseman Joe Gordon, Kaat, Marion and shortstop Alvin Dark, his teammate on the 1951 Giants. He also mentioned two Negro league stars ? Bill Wright, an outfielder with the Baltimore Elite Giants, and Raymond Brown, a Homestead Grays right-hander.

And when Sparky Anderson and Tony Perez were asked, each had the same quick answer that Cooperstown doesn't want to hear: Pete Rose.

"Everybody in the Hall of Fame is there because of their statistics," Anderson said. "But let's say Pete did everything they say he did in the gambling investigation; that was as a manager, not as a player. That don't mean you have to like him, but you have to put him where he belongs."

Unless Pete Rose is reinstated, he won't be on next year's Hall of Fame ballot. But suppose he gets a write-in vote on more than 75 percent of the ballots?

Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

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Did you know Maury

-was the first person to steal over 100 bases in a season, with 104 in 1962

-was the 1961 & 1962 winner of the Gold Glove Award

-was the 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, & 1965 leader in stolen bases

-was the 1962 National League Most Valuable Player