A pair of Dodgers legends get another shot at Cooperstown, as Gil Hodges and Maury Wills are two of 10 members on the Hall of Fame Golden Era Committee ballot, it was announced on Thursday.
Hodges and Wills are joined on the ballot by Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Bob Howsam, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva, Billy Pierce and Luis Tiant.
The Golden Era includes players who made the bulk of their contributions from 1947-72, and is one of three rotating committees voted on once every three years. The 16-person committee will vote during baseball's winter meetings - held Dec. 7-11 in San Diego - with 75-percent (12 votes) needed for enshrinement.
Hodges hit .273/.359/.487, a 120 OPS+ in an 18-year career, all but two with the Dodgers. He hit 361 of his 370 home runs with the Dodgers, second all-time in franchise history to Duke Snider's 389. Hodges made eight All-Star teams and the first three Gold Glove Awards at first base. As a manager Hodges led the Miracle Mets to a World Series win in 1969, but died less than three years later.
In his 15 years on the BBWAA writers ballot, Hodges topped out at 63.4 percent in 1983, his final year on the ballot. Hodges received nine votes from the Golden Era Committee the last time it intervened, in 2011.
Wills is the Dodgers' all-time leader with 490 stolen bases, and stole 586 bases in his 14-year career, at a 73.8-percent clip. Wills led the league in stolen bases six straight seasons from 1960-65, including a then-record 104 steals while winning the NL MVP in 1962.
Wills hit .281/.330/.331, an 88 OPS+ in his career, made five All-Star teams and won two Gold Glove Awards at shortstop.
He was on the writers' ballot all 15 years, but topped out at 40.6 percent in 1981, his fourth year on the ballot. This is Wills' first time on the Golden Era Committee ballot.
The 16-member voting committee includes Hall of Famers Jim Bunning, Rod Carew, Pat Gillick, Ferguson Jenkins, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan, Ozzie Smith and Don Sutton; executives Jim Frey, David Glass, Roland Hemond and Bob Watson; and media members Steve Hirdt, Dick Kaegel, Phil Pepe and Tracy Ringolsby.
The 2015 Hall of Fame class will be inducted on July 26 in Cooperstown.