A record-tying six honorees will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 27. Three of the inductees, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas and Tony La Russa have ties to Chicago teams. Greg Maddux pitched for the Cubs from 1986 to 1992 before signing with the Atlanta Braves. He had great success with both teams, winning 355 games. Frank Thomas played for the White Sox from 1990 to 2005. Nicknamed the "Big Hurt," Thomas is the only player in major league history to have seven consecutive seasons of a .300 average and at least 100 walks, 100 runs, 100 runs batted in and 20 home runs. Tony La Russa managed the White Sox from 1979 to 1986, winning the American League Manager of the Year in 1983. He went on to win one World Series managing the Oakland Athletics and two more World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Other honorees are Tom Glavine, pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, winning 305 games, Bobby Cox, manager of the Atlanta Braves who led them to a World Series championship in 1995, and Joe Torre, the manager of the New York Yankees, who won four World Series as the Yankees' skipper. It's a very impressive group, and Cooperstown, New York, site of the induction ceremony, will be rocking and rolling with baseball fans from all over the country coming to pay homage to their hometown heroes.
There are several great movies about baseball legends who went on to become Hall of Famers, so why not watch one to get in the mood for Sunday's festivities?
The Babe tells the story of the legendary George Herman "Babe" Ruth from his childhood in an orphanage to his storied career with the New York Yankees.
The Pride of the Yankees follows the career of Lou Gehrig who played in 2,130 consecutive games for the New York Yankees before succumbing to ALS at age 37. A real tearjerker.
42 is a drama depicting the career of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
61* tells of the competitiveness of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, Yankee teammates, each trying to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.
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