Tony Kubek named Ford C. Frick winner

[Unassisted]

He certainly got a lot of fan votes. Perhaps we need to speak louder next year and really go around the net (and at home) & campaign for more to vote for Joe.

It seems fairly clear now that no amount of log-rolling is going to sway that selection committee. It would be smart to find out whether it's actually working against Joe in the minds of some committee members before doing it again.

[Chip R]

It would be a nice thing, but Joe doesn't need the Hall to elevate his stature; rather the Hall would elevate itself by association with Joe.

Well said. I don't think any of us who were fans of Joe could hold him in higher esteem if he were selecte for this honor.

[Roy Tucker]

Too bad Joe didn't make it. I don't mean to be a heretic, but I'm still not convinced Joe belongs in national HoF.

Tony Kubek is a great choice.

Like many, my formative baseball years were spent watching "Game of the Week" when that was the only exposure that national games got. Garagiola/Kubek and Costas/Kubek were great pairings (Curt Gowdy, ehhhh). I still remember that Ryne Sandberg 11-10 game that Costas and Kubek did at Wrigley. A classic wind-blowing-out game and Costas and Kubek were in their prime.

[Strikes Out Looking]

Wasn't it Kubek's hair spray that attracted the bees at Riverfront one Saturday?

[RedsBaron]

Kubek and "Game of the Week" is how I became a baseball fan when I was a kid. The last "Game" broadcast he did with Costas was a classic. Great selection. I'm surprised he wasn't already in Cooperstown.

I agree. I'm surprised that it tok Kubek this long to be selected. I loved Nux, but it is hard to argue that he was more deserving of this honor than Kubek.

[Mario-Rijo]

It seems fairly clear now that no amount of log-rolling is going to sway that selection committee. It would be smart to find out whether it's actually working against Joe in the minds of some committee members before doing it again.

Interesting point, but if that's the case maybe that selection committee ought to be drug tested.

[mbgrayson]

I still think that we need to vote early and often next year, and make sure Joe gets the most votes for the thrid time in a row.

However, that just gets him to the finals. Then we need to get a subtle but powerful lobbying campaign going. We need to get a couple or three influential ballplayers or broadcasters to write Op-Ed columns advocating Joe. We need a website with some biographical facts and community outreach accomplishments prominently posted. We need to distribute copies of the Enquirer book 'Joe Nuxhall' to all of the selection committee. (That book includes a nice DVD showing interviews with Joe).

Then we need RedsZone members to write letters to the committee members and tell them what Joe meant to us, or maybe print excerpts from several of the memorial threads done about Joe.

We need to keep the pressure on the committee. I'm not ready to give up yet....

As to Kubek, I like him too, although I prefer Joe. Here is a bit about Tony:

After retiring following a nine-year playing career, Kubek worked for NBC, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Yankees for 30 years. He was at the microphone for 11 World Series, 14 AL Championship Series and 10 All-Star Games, and was the color commentator for the final NBC Game of the Week telecast on Sept. 30, 1989.

Kubek is the first exclusive television analyst to win the Frick Award, which has been presented since 1978. He also is the first primarily TV broadcaster to be honored since Bob Wolff in 1995, and the first Frick Award winner to have called games for a Canadian team.