Baseball History -- January 8

Complete entry for January 8 is at BaseballLibrary.com HERE.

Highlighted entries are some past Hall of Fame classes:

2002
Ozzie Smith is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the baseball writers in his first year of eligibility. Smith, named on 91.7 percent of the ballots, is the 37th player to be elected in his first year.

1996
For only the 7th time in history, the Baseball Writers Association of America fails to select a player for induction into baseball's Hall of Fame.

1991
Rod Carew, Gaylord Perry, and Ferguson Jenkins are elected to the Hall of Fame, with Carew becoming the 22nd player to be named in his first year of eligibility.

1986
Willie McCovey is the only player elected this year to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA, and becomes the 16th player elected in his first year of eligibility. Billy Williams falls four votes shy of the 319 needed for election.