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MLB General

Jan 29 in Sports History: Inaugural Hall of Fame classes

In 1936: The first members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY were named. The first class to be inducted was Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner. While the term hall of fame was always used metaphorically, the Baseball Hall of Fame was the first of its kind in sports. Now, there’s a Bowling Hall of Fame (St. Louis), a Motorsports Hall of Fame (Talladega, AL), even a freaking Shuffleboard Hall of Fame (St. Petersburg, FL). Although, the selection process has been tweaked over the years, it still takes 75 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA –  sounds more like a porn group on Myspace) to be enshrined.

In 1963: The first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame was announced on the same day 27 years later. The list of inductees was much longer than baseball’s. It included Sammy Baugh, Jim Thorpe, Bronko Nagurski, Bert Bell, George Halas, Pete Henry, Cal Hubbard, George Preston Marshall, Johnny “Blood” McNally, Red Grange, Mel Hein, Ernie Nevers, Dutch Clark, Curly Lambeau, Don Hutson, Tim Mara and Joe Carr. Each member had to be inducted by a unanimous vote that year. The selection process has changed over the years, and the current voting only allows for three to six members to be enshrined every year.

In 1995: Another year, another NFC team destroying an AFC team in the Super Bowl (I’m telling you, it ruined my childhood). This time, Steve Young and the San Francisco 49ers did the honors by beating the 19-point underdog San Diego Chargers 49-26 (in one of the worst non-covers of all time). Young found Jerry Rice for a 44-yard touchdown on the game’s third play and went on to a record six touchdown passes. It was the eleventh straight win for the NFC, and the fifth Super Bowl in as many tries for San Francisco.