Robin Roberts and Bob Lemon Voted into Cooperstown

On January 22, 1976, the BBWAA elected pitchers Robin Roberts and Bob Lemon to the Hall of Fame. Roberts had been waiting for years. It was Lemon's twelfth appearance on the ballot.

Roberts anchored the Philadelphia Phillies rotation through the 1950s, leading the NL in wins four consecutive years from 1952 to 1955, in complete games for five straight from 1952 to 1956, and in innings pitched for five straight from 1951 to 1955. He won 286 games over 19 seasons, relying on pinpoint control rather than overpowering stuff. His finest hour came in 1950, when the "Whiz Kids" Phillies won the NL pennant on the last day of the season. Roberts threw 21 complete games that year and finished 20-11.

Lemon took a different path. He started his career as a third baseman and outfielder with the Cleveland Indians before converting to pitching during World War II. The transition proved transformative. He won 20 or more games seven times, threw a no-hitter in 1948, and helped the Indians win the World Series that same year. He finished with a 207-128 record and a 3.23 ERA.

The two pitchers were formally inducted in Cooperstown on August 9, 1976, alongside Veterans Committee selections Roger Connor, Cal Hubbard, and Freddie Lindstrom, and Negro Leagues electee Oscar Charleston. The ceremony took place during a year of enormous change for baseball. Free agency arrived that November, reshaping the economics of the sport from that point forward.