On this day 85 years ago, the National Baseball Hall of Fame began to take shape. It was on January 29, 1936 that the inaugural class of the Hall of Fame was elected, though it wasn’t until days later on February 2nd that the public found out, making that the official date of election for that inaugural class in the eyes of the Hall of Fame. As you would have guessed, the first class elected into the newly created Hall of Fame were legends. Those five players were Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.

Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth is arguably the best player to ever play the game of baseball and needs no introduction to anyone. The man who was larger than life played from 1914 to 1935 for the Boston Red Sox (1914-1919), the New York Yankees (1920-1934), and the Boston Braves (1935). On the all-time stats list, Ruth stands in 3rd place in home runs (714), 9th in batting average (.342), 2nd in RBI (2,213), 2nd in on-base percentage (.474), and 1st in slugging percentage (.690) and OPS (1.164). While it was hit offense that everyone is fully aware of, many forget that the Great Bambino could deal on the mound as well. He ended up only throwing 31 innings while in a Yankees uniform, but during his six seasons spent with the Red Sox, he pitched in 158 games, racking up 89 wins and 483 strikeouts.

Ty Cobb

The Georgia Peach played for two teams throughout his career (1905-1928), but it was the Detroit Tigers where he spent all but two of his seasons. He played the last two years of his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. In my personal opinion, Ty Cobb is the best hitter to ever play the game. And I think the stats speak for themselves. He wasn’t the home run hitter that Ruth was, but he did end up putting 117 balls over the fence. He is 2nd all-time in number of hits (4,191), 2nd in runs scored (2,246), 4th in doubles (723), 2nd in triples (297), 8th in RBI (1,938), 4th in stolen bases (892), 1st in batting average (.367), and 7th in on-base percentage (.433). And if all of that isn’t enough, he also managed the Detroit Tigers from 1921-1926 while playing for them.

Honus Wagner

Not enough people know about Honus Wagner even though he was the greatest shortstop to ever play baseball. He began his career a little earlier than the previous two players, with his career spanning back into the 1800s. Wagner played for the Louisville Colonels from 1897-1899 and the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900-1917. It is the Pirates with whom is he remembered for and the reason why there is a large statue of him just behind the home plate entrance to PNC Park (home of today’s Pittsburgh Pirates). On the all-time hit list, Honus ranks 7th with 3,430 while ranking 10th in doubles (640), 3rd in triples (252), 10th in stolen bases (722), and 27th in batting average (.329). Similar to Ty Cobb in two ways, Wagner wasn’t much of a home run hitter either with 101 during his career and also was a player-manager, where he did so in Pittsburgh in 1917.

Christy Mathewson

Along with the three primary position players, two pitchers were elected into the first Hall of Fame class. Christy Mathewson began his career at the turn of the century, where he played for the New York Giants from 1900-1916. He would then finish his 1916 season, and baseball career, with the Cincinnati Reds where he only pitched nine innings, but also managed the Reds. Mathewson was known as the first big pitching star in baseball and his stats will tell you why. He ranks 3rd all-time in number of wins (373), 5th in ERA (2.13), 13th in complete games (434), 3rd in complete game shutouts (79), and 6th in WHIP (1.06). He also racked up 2,502 strikeouts throughout his career, placing him 37th all-time. Known as one of the most accurate pitchers in the history of the game, fellow Hall of Famer Johnny Evers claimed he could pitch into a tin cup.

Walter Johnson

You know Walter Johnson was a stud of a pitcher when someone like Ty Cobb remarked on his fastball, “just speed, raw speed, blinding speed, too much speed.” Johnson was known as the best power pitcher of the time, which led to one of the greatest pitching careers of all time. Throughout his career that lasted from 1907-1927, he only played for one team: the Washington Senators. And the Senators witnessed some legendary things when Johnson took the mound. Ranked 2nd in all-time wins with 417, he also ranks 7th in ERA (2.17), 4th in complete games (531), 1st in complete game shutouts (110), 9th in strikeouts (3,508), 7th in WHIP (1.06), and 3rd in innings pitched (5,914.1). In 1924, Walter Johnson finally got the opportunity to play in a World Series and took full advantage of it, earning the win in Game 7 against the New York Giants.

Credit: https://www.mlb.com/stats/

https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers

https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/first-bbwaa-hof-election-1936

Garett

Baseball’s First Hall of Fame Class (Elected 85 Years Ago)