Pat Gillick Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Longtime baseball executive Pat Gillick is the newest member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gillick was elected by the Expansion Era Committee, the only candidate on a ballot of eight former players, three executives and one manager to receive the necessary 75 percent of the vote.

"I can't tell you what an honor this is, and really I think it's on behalf of all the people that I worked with over the years. That's who I feel this honor is for," Gillick said. "The owners, the scouts, the managers, the player development people -- they'll share in this award.

"It's over the hill."

Gillick received votes from 13 of the 16 members of the selection committee, one more than was necessary for election. Falling just short once again was Marvin Miller, the legendary former head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, who received 11 votes.

Gillick is currently a senior adviser for the Phillies. He served as general manager in Philadelphia from 2006-08, following stints as the GM in Seattle (2000-03), Baltimore (1996-98) and Toronto (1985-93). He world World Series championships with the Blue Jays (1992-93) and Phillies (2008), and his 2001 Mariners won a record 116 games.

"I think really the job of a general manager is not really to select the players, it's to select the correct people to select the players," Gillick said. "Everywhere along the way I've been fortunate to select really good evaluators of talent."

He was emotional at times over the honor, and who he felt that honor represented.

"It recognizes a lot of people that don't get recognized all the time. The scouts, the player development people, they don't get recognized and I feel like I represent them," Gillick said.

Gillick will join any former players elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies next July 24 in Cooperstown, N.Y. The BBWAA election results will be announced Jan. 5.

Of the others on the ballot, Dave Concepcion received eight votes and the rest of the candidates -- George Steinbrenner, Ted Simmons, Vida Blue, Steve Garvey, Ron Guidry, Tommy John, Billy Martin, Al Oliver and Rusty Staub -- received fewer than eight votes.

The Expansion Era Committee, which consists of Hall of Fame members Johnny Bench, Whitey Herzog, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Tony Perez, Frank Robinson, Ryne Sandberg and Ozzie Smith along with major league executives Bill Giles (Phillies), David Glass (Royals), Andy MacPhail (Orioles) and Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox) and veteran media members Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun), Tim Kurkjian (ESPN), Ross Newhan (retired, Los Angeles Times) and Tom Verducci (Sports Illustrated),considered candidates whose contributions were most significant from 1973 to the present.

Next year, the Hall of Fame will consider candidates from 1947-72. In 2012, candidates from 1871-1946 will be on the ballot.

---

The FanHouse TV crew discusses Pat Gillick making the Hall of Fame and others missing out: