Well, maybe next time, Danny Murtaugh.
On Sunday, the Golden Days Era and Early Baseball Era committees announced their Hall of Fame votes, and while Murtaugh was on the ballot, he did not receive enough votes from the 16 member Golden Days Era committee to be elected.
The Baseball Hall of Fame did not report Murtaugh’s final vote total, signaling he received three or fewer votes. He needed 12, or 75%.
Four members of that ballot were elected through the Golden Era vote and will be part of the 2022 class: Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso and Tony Oliva. Negro League legends Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neil were elected through the Early Baseball Era committee.
The Golden Days Era committee, which focuses on individuals whose contributions were mainly through 1950-1969, will be up to vote again in 2026. Though there is no guarantee Murtaugh will be included in that ballot five years from now, the fact that four from this ballot were elected seemingly helps his case to stay on another turn.
Murtaugh is the only Pirates manager to win multiple World Series, leading the 1960 and 1971 teams. His 1,115 wins are second most in Pirates history, trailing only Fred Clarke, who had 1,602. Murtaugh posted a .540 career winning percentage over his 15 years as Pirates manager from 1957-1976. He also made baseball history on Sept. 1, 1971 by fielding baseball's first all-minority lineup.
His No. 40 was retired by the Pirates in 1977.
Murtaugh is one of eight managers in baseball history with 1,000 wins, a winning percentage of .540 or better and multiple World Series. Six of them are in the Hall of Fame: Joe McCarthy, Walter Alston, John McGraw, Sparky Anderson, Miller Huggins and Billy Southworth. Terry Francona, who is active and currently managing the Guardians, is the other.
Many of Murtaugh’s former players spoke out and wrote editorials on his behalf to try to bolster his candidacy. Read more on that here.
The Baseball Writer Association of America election results will be announced at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Jan. 25, on MLB Network. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be July 24.
