Eddie DeBartolo loyalists got their wish. Eddie D’s going to the football Hall of Fame, 24 years after Al Davis’ induction, giving the Bay Area a powerful 1-2 punch.
Loyalists of anyone running local baseball teams - owners, presidents, general managers -- shouldn’t hold their breath. Baseball’s Hall of Fame works a bit differently.
Neither Horace Stoneham, who helped bring baseball to the West Coast, nor Charlie Finley, a colorful innovator despite his deficiencies, is in the Hall. On the GM front, it’s a tough road for Brian Sabean, who won three championships in five years and helped construct the latest Yankee dynasty, and Billy Beane, the dean of doing more with less, 2015 notwithstanding.