Cooperstown to Get Some Company Today

Phil Niekro and Tom Lasorda, two ambassadors to baseball as well as representatives of the sport’s vanishing breed, will be among the four individuals to be inducted today in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Former Chicago White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox and former Negro League shortstop Willie Wells will also be inducted. Niekro was the only choice in the balloting by the baseball writers, while Lasorda, Fox and Wells were elected by the Veterans Committee.

Niekro threw a knuckleball, a pitch used by only a handful of major leaguers today, to win 318 games. Lasorda managed the Dodgers for two decades, a rare feat since only one current manager--Tom Kelly of Minnesota--has been with the same team as long as 10 years.