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After a player’s time on the Baseball Writers’ ballot expires, the last remaining avenue to Cooperstown runs through the Veterans Committee. The committee has at times corrected the writers’ oversights and errors. No-doubt Hall of Fame selections like all-time triples leader Sam Crawford who totaled 2,961 hits and 342-game winner Tim Keefe are examples of the committee’s successes.

The committee has also given plaques to some who are clearly not among the game’s greats. When Frankie Frisch controlled the committee, former teammates George Kelly, Pop Haines, and Chick Hafey gained baseball immortality.

Since cries of cronyism the committee has faced reform many times.

Bob Fishel served as a baseball executive for more than 40 years, eventually ending up as Executive Vice President of the American League. Fishel was named to the Veterans Committee on February 9, 1985 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Joe Cronin.

It was in these capacities that the above letter emanates. Fishel writes to a concerned member of SABR named James Buchanan, “I understand the story on Vic Willis…though our committee has discussed a one-time possibility of pre-20th century players and Negro League players. Perhaps for the 50th anniversary of the Hall of Fame something will be done along these lines.”

In 1995, eight years after the letter was written, the Veterans Committee elected Willis.

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Casey Stengel guided the Yankees to 10 pennants and seven World Series titles in 12 years. After leading them to 97 wins and the AL flag in 1960, he was fired by the club. Understandably it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Stengel returned to the dugout in 1962 as the skipper for the hapless expansion New York Mets. After the Mets lost 404 of the 582 he managed, Stengel retired for good.

Year after year the Yankees invited Stengel to their Old Timers’ Games. Each time he declined. Bob Fishel changed that in 1970. The Yankee public relations director included a handwritten note to The Old Perfessor suggesting the club might retire Stengel’s #37. At that tine the only Lou Gehrig (1939), Babe Ruth (1948), Joe DiMaggio (1952), and Mickey Mantle (1969) received the honor. Joining those four legends appealed to Stengel and he accepted the invite.

On August 8, 1970, Casey’s number was officially retired by the Yankees in a lavish ceremony. Fishel mended the relationship between Stengel and the team he led during a golden era. Stengel and Fishel remained friends throughout their lives.

In the collection is this original telegram from longtime Yankee executive Bob Fishel congratulating Casey Stengel on his inclusion to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Dated March 9, 1966 it reads, “Your unanimous election to the Hall of Fame certainly comes as no surprise to us. You belong there. Heartiest congratulations on the achievement. Bob Fishel”.

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The Yankee Old Timer’s Game was a star-studded affair during the 1960s. Throughout his time as Yankee PR director, Bob Fishel had the honor and responsibility of contacting the former players and inviting them to participate. Here 300-game winner Lefty Grove accepts Yankee executive Bob Fishel’s invitation to the game via this telegram.

A back-to-back World Series champion with the Philadelphia Athletics, Grove was selected to Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team in 1999. Despite all of his accomplishments, it took Grove three years on the ballot to reach Cooperstown in 1947.