Packing the Hall: Frankie Frisch

With today's unsurprising results in the Hall of Fame elections, let's look back to the late 1960s and early 1970s when Frankie Frisch and his cronies packed the Hall of Fame with Giants and Cardinals from the 1920s and 1930s, primarily based on their ability to know Frankie Frisch.



If you look at some of the weakest hall of famers, many were elected by Frankie Frisch's Veteran's Committee during this time frame.  When you think of Hall of Famers, you don't think of High Pockets Kelly, Pop Haines, Chick Hafey or Freddie Lindstrom, unless you are asked who are some of the worst Hall of Famers of all time, but all happened to be former teammates of Frankie Frisch and elected during or just after his tenure at the head of the Veteran's Committee.  In many ways, it was the exact opposite of what happened today, where a bunch of legitimate Hall of Fame caliber players were denied entry into the institution.  Of course, Pete Rose can attest to not being a Hall of Famer being good for your career.  (Actually, Pete Rose is in the WWE Hall of Fame, but that doesn't get him access to Cooperstown.) 

As to the card, I like Frankie Frisch fielding a grounder in an office park.  An office park with a dark red sky in the background, almost as if he was sentenced to live a horrible fate, playing baseball in a nightmare world with a fiery sky as his sole escape from office drudgery.  Plus, he is developing back trouble from that awkward angle he needs to work in.  Perhaps it is his pennance for Pop Haines induction into the Hall or perhaps it is my overactive imagination putting poor Frankie in imaginary afterworld peril.  Either way, the strong colors of the card speak to me and I'm glad to have found this card at a very reasonable price.