Willa Allen, the wife of the late Dick Allen, gave a speech remembering the former Chicago White Sox All-Star during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sunday.

Tom Hamilton joined Jimmy Dudley and Jack Graney in representing Cleveland as winners of the Ford C. Frick Award.

Allen refused to campaign for Cooperstown before he died in December of 2020. So others did. And it paid off on Sunday when the Phillies legend finally received baseball's ultimate honor.

And by next year, Baseball Hall of Fame relief pitcher Billy Wagner will also have a permanent marker in his hometown. A native of Tazewell, where he pitched in high school, Wagner learned in January that he’d been elected to this year’s Hall of Fame class. A local hero, there are signs on each end of town celebrating his big-league career.

Crusty oldtimers always insist things were better in their day, but today’s Hall of Famers increasingly feel estranged from the people who run the game.

As the Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes its newest class to Cooperstown, which former Red Sox players could be next to earn enshrinement?