By Jon Weisman
Former Dodger outfielder Glenn Burke has been elected to the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals, along with legendary local minor-leaguer Steve Bilko and baseball cards godfather Sy Berger.
The trio will join 48 others who have been inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals since elections began in 1999, including such Dodger family members as Dick Allen, Bill Buckner, Roberto Clemente, Jim Eisenreich, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Dr. Frank Jobe, Manny Mota, Lefty O’Doul, Jackie Robinson, Rachel Robinson, Casey Stengel, Fernando Valenzuela, Maury Wills and Don Zimmer.
“Criteria for election shall be: the distinctiveness of play (good or bad); the uniqueness of character and personality; and the imprint that the individual has made on the baseball landscape,” according to the Baseball Reliquary website. “Electees, both on and off the diamond, shall have been responsible for developing baseball in one or more of the following ways: through athletic and/or business achievements; in terms of its larger cultural and sociological impact as a mass entertainment; and as an arena for the human imagination.”
Among those finishing in the top 10 in voting percentage this year was Charlie Brown.
Sy Berger – 33%
Steve Bilko – 31%
Glenn Burke – 31%
Bob Costas – 30%
Bo Jackson – 29%
J.R. Richard – 29%
Lisa Fernandez – 26%
Charlie Finley – 26%
Effa Manley – 25%
Charlie Brown – 24%
Rocky Colavito – 21%
Rube Foster – 21%
Ernie Harwell – 21%
Denny McLain – 21%
Vic Power – 20%
Rusty Staub – 20%
Charles M. Conlon – 19%
Luke Easter – 19%
Nancy Faust – 19%
Mamie Johnson – 19%
Rube Waddell – 19%
John Young – 19%
Dr. Mike Marshall – 18%
Hideo Nomo – 18%
Dave Parker – 18%
Chet Brewer – 17%
Annie Savoy – 17%
Bert Campaneris – 16%
Octavius V. Catto – 15%
Fred Merkle – 15%
Daniel Okrent – 15%
Dan Quisenberry – 15%
Peter Reiser – 15%
John Montgomery Ward – 15%
Phil Pote – 14%
Charley Pride – 14%
Jose Canseco – 13%
Joe Pepitone – 13%
Margaret Donahue – 12%
Chris Von der Ahe – 11%
Eliot Asinof – 10%
Tug McGraw – 10%
David N. Mullany – 10%
Masaoka Shiki – 9%
Peter Seitz – 7%
Jim Paul – 5%
Jorge Pasquel – 4%
Gale Wade – 4%
Ray Oyler – 3%
Billy Earle – 1%
Jack Chmielewski
Jon,
I played softball with Steve Bilko when he moved back to PA after his career with the minor league Angels. He was a good teammate and told some great stories about the minors. His favorite was when he increased his BA by 50 and took a pay cut because his homers dropped by 10 and that is what they were paying him for. Thanks for digging up the memories.
Mark Hagerstrom
No idea that Bilko played for the Dodgers. There are some wonderful personalities on that list.
Gerald Price
For those of us who were L.A. Angels fans in the pre-Dodgers era, there was no bigger star than Stout Steve Bilko. Most homers in PCL history in just four seasons, with 55 in the 1956 championship season and 56 in 1957.