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Church, Bernal and Benjamin enter the HOF
From the Cooperstown Cooper:
Pity poor Jack Benjamin. The 8-time all-star ace of so many Kansas City Western clubs, and winner of 223 games, was but the third wheel of the 1920 HOF inductions, entering alongside Daniel Church and Carlos Bernal.
"I don't feel bad," Benjamin said, "I'm honored, in fact, simply to be in the same club as them."
While this is not the first class to enter the Hall, the Great War and the Spanish Flu had put dampers on previous ceremonies. In stark contrast, this year saw thousands come to watch the inductions, including many Church fans from Buffalo, who touted sandwich signs that said things such as "Time for Church", "Dan's our Man" and "The Greatest".
Taking time to recall Mike Williams' infamous "no position player will get a run off of him" comment from his time with the 1910 Boston Beantowners, Church shocked all in attendance by revealing that he actually had thrown batting practice to Minh Tran-Dinh during the time they had spent together in Buffalo.
"I guess I never should have done that, it gave him a read on me."
The final speaker of the day, however, was Carlos Bernal, who had not traveled that far from his home in Glen Falls for the ceremony. Thanking his family and teammates, he also revealed that he had finally gotten his first coaching job, and will be managing the Indianapolis Reserve League team in Fort Wayne beginning next season. The announcement drew widespread cheers from the crowd, many, no doubt, who are hoping that one day they may yet see him in a TBL uniform, albeit as a coach or manager.
Rumors that the Outstanding Pitcher Award would be renamed after Church (who will be coaching in the Richmond system this coming season) were unfounded, although there is some talk that it will still happen and was just delayed out of respect to Bernal and Benjamin, neither of whom would be receiving similar honors.
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