Oliva angry after bid for Hall of Fame falls short

Jim Souhan
Star Tribune

FORT MYERS, FLA. -- Former Twins great Tony Oliva was one of 25 candidates eligible for election to the Hall of Fame by the Committee on Baseball Veterans who failed to make the cut, the Hall announced Wednesday.

Oliva, in the Twins' spring training camp as an extra instructor, reacted angrily to the news after he finished third in the voting by being named on 56.3 percent of the ballots. A player must be named on 75 percent of the ballots to be inducted.

Gil Hodges and Ron Santo each were named on 65 percent of the ballots.

Oliva was named on 59.3 percent of the ballots two years ago, and will have to wait another two years for another shot at his dream. Oliva said getting excluded by the Veterans Committee stung even more than being excluded by the Baseball Writers Association of America, which conducts the regular Hall of Fame voting.

"This is harder than then, because they should have put in someone in the Hall of Fame two years ago, and they should have put someone in this year," Oliva said. "The veterans played at a time when there were a lot of good players, and they vote for their friends. I appreciate the people who did vote for me, but two years is too much to wait.

"A lot of players are 60 or 70, and you don't want to go in when you're dead."

Oliva said if he did get elected posthumously, he would want his wife to decline the honor. Oliva said Commissioner Bud Selig should revamp the voting, saying 75 percent is an unrealistic standard.

"They show that it is almost impossible to go in with the system the way it is now," Oliva said. "It's ridiculous that nobody's getting in. ...I believe Bud Selig has to do something now. ... This is garbage."

Big draws

The Twins have sold almost 40,000 tickets for their home opener, April 8 at the Metrodome against the White Sox. They've sold about 25,000 for the second game of that series, and 19,000 for the third.

Twins President Dave St. Peter said he expected the total attendance for the series to rise to as much as 120,000.

Mighty Concordia

The Twins "lost" a scrimmage to Concordia (St. Paul) College on Wednesday on one of their minor-league fields.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he believed the final score of the six-inning game was 6-1, but it was an informal affair in which Twins pitchers faced Twins hitters and Concordia pitchers faced Concordia hitters.

Games to start

The Twins open their spring training schedule at the Red Sox's park in Fort Myers tonight.

Gardenhire isn't planning on playing many regulars, saving them for the home opener Friday against Toronto. And the Twins think tonight's game could be rained out.

Michael Restovich, recovering from a broken collarbone, has been cleared to DH.

Kyle Lohse will start against Boston, and be followed by J.D. Durbin and Willie Eyre. Ford, Matthew LeCroy, Jason Bartlett and Eric Munson are expected to be in the lineup.