Saturday, July 21, 2012

Is Herb Pennock in the HOF as a Red Sox?

The cap a player wears on his Hall of Fame plaque is important.  It is meant to signify the team the player made his most indelible mark with.  The Hall of Fame takes this very seriously.  But sometimes there are some unusual choices.  Dave Winfield decided to go in as a San Diego Padre instead of the New York Yankees while Nolan Ryan chose the Texas Rangers and Reggie Jackson chose the New York Yankees.  There are some players whose logos cannot be seen at all, such as Catfish Hunter.

This brings us to Herb Pennock.  Pennock pitched 11 seasons with the Yankees, going 162-90 with a 3.54 ERA.  He pitched in nine seasons with the Red Sox over two stints going 62-59 with a 3.67 ERA.  He was on two World Champion teams with the Red Sox and was a decent pitcher, but not a star.

However, let's look at his Hall of Fame plaque:

It is often stated that the reason Pennock is in the Hall of Fame is due to his work with the Yankees, but this plaque seems to show him with the Red Sox.  It is not completely obvious, but it looks like the bottom of a "B" can be seen just above the bill of his cap.  It certainly does not look like an "NY" and the only other team he played for was the Philadelphia A's.  

Then there is this picture, which looks a lot like it might have been the picture, or at least from the same set of pictures as the one used to create the plaque.  

Notice the piping on the uniform shirt and the hat and the facial features.  This looks like it proves that the cap Pennock is wearing on his Hall of Fame plaque is a Red Sox cap.

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