Living Members of the Baseball Hall of Fame

For this list, effective today with the death of Harmon Killebrew, I am counting all players, managers, executives (including owners) and broadcasters who were with a team for a significant period of time. Many, as you’ll see, qualify under more than one team. Players are listed by chronological order of when they arrived, followed by managers, executives and broadcasters (in each case, unless they can also be listed as players). Ties in the rankings will be broken by who had more players.

1. Baltimore Orioles, 10: Brooks Robinson, Luis Aparicio, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar, Earl Weaver (manager), Lee MacPhail (executive), Jon Miller (broadcaster). Rafael Palmeiro is now eligible, but he’s never getting in.

2. St. Louis Cardinals, 9: Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst (player and manager), Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Steve Carlton, Orlando Cepeda, Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter, Whitey Herzog (manager and executive). Mark McGwire probably won’t be added here, either.

3. New York Yankees, 7: Yogi Berra (player and manager), Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, Dave Winfield, Wade Boggs, Lee MacPhail (executive). No, despite their HOF-awarded broadcasting careers, you can’t count Jerry Coleman or Tony Kubek. I thought about counting Rickey Henderson, but decided against it. Joe Torre is not yet eligible.

4. Boston Red Sox, 7: Bobby Doerr, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley, Wade Boggs, Dick Williams (manager).

5. San Francisco Giants, 7: Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Lon Simmons and Jon Miller (broadcasters). All of the Giants’ San Francisco HOFers are still alive as of May 17, 2011. Mays and Monte Irvin would qualify for the New York edition of the Giants, and Irvin is the only living HOFer who would qualify for a Negro League team (the Newark Eagles).

6. Chicago Cubs, 6: Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins, Bruce Sutter, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson.

7. Cincinnati Reds, 6: Frank Robinson, Tony Perez, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan. Tom Seaver, Marty Brennaman (broadcaster). This total, of course, does not include Pete Rose.

8. Oakland Athletics, 6: Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, Dick Williams (manager), Lon Simmons (broadcaster). Don’t expect Mark McGwire to be added anytime soon.

9. San Diego Padres, 5: Dave Winfield, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Tony Gwynn, Jerry Coleman (broadcaster). Hard to believe the Padres are ahead of the Dodgers on this list, but if Duke Snider were still alive, as he was earlier this year, the Dodgers would still be ahead.

10. Los Angeles Dodgers, 5: Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton, Tommy Lasorda (manager), Vin Scully and Jamie Jarrin (broadcasters). With the death of Duke Snider, there are no more living players elected as Brooklyn Dodgers, although Koufax and Lasorda did pitch for them in Brooklyn, and Scully started his broadcasting career there.

11. Philadelphia Phillies, 4: Jim Bunning, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Pat Gillick (executive). This list will probably one day include Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Roy Halladay – but, of course, they’ve got to be retired for 5 full seasons first.

12. New York Mets, 4: Tom Seaver, Gary Carter, Yogi Berra (manager), Ralph Kiner (broadcaster). No, you can’t count Willie Mays. Or Rickey Henderson. John Franco is eligible, and Mike Piazza becomes eligible in 2013.

13. Houston Astros, 4: Joe Morgan, Nolan Ryan, Gene Elston & Milo Hamilton (broadcasters). Jeff Bagwell became eligible this year, and Craig Biggio becomes eligible in 2013; they may end up getting elected together.

14. Anaheim Angels, 3: Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew.

15. Chicago White Sox, 3: Luis Aparicio, Goose Gossage, Carlton Fisk. Frank Thomas is not yet eligible. (EDIT: I originally forgot to include Fisk with the White Sox as well as the Red sox.)

16. Pittsburgh Pirates, 3: Ralph Kiner, Bill Mazeroski, Bert Blyleven.

17. Toronto Blue Jays, 3: Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor, Pat Gillick (executive). Including Molitor was close, but they wouldn’t have won that ’93 World Series without him. However, considering they were there for only 1 season, even if they were World Championship seasons, you can’t count Dave Winfield (’92) or Rickey Henderson (’93).

18. Atlanta Braves, 3: Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro, Milo Hamilton (broadcaster). This number will grow once Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and (possibly) Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones become eligible. Aaron and Red Schoendienst would qualify for the Milwaukee Braves.

19. Milwaukee Brewers, 3: Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Rollie Fingers, Bob Uecker (broadcaster).

20. Kansas City Royals, 3: George Brett, Whitey Herzog (manager), Denny Matthews (broadcaster).

21. Texas Rangers, 2: Ferguson Jenkins, Nolan Ryan. Rafael Palmeiro is now eligible, but he’s never getting in. No, you can’t count Gaylord Perry.

22. Detroit Tigers, 2: Jim Bunning, Al Kaline.

23. Minnesota Twins, 2: Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven. Bob Wolff qualifies as a broadcaster for their previous incarnation, the “original Washington Senators.”

24. Florida Marlins, 2: Felo Ramirez and Dave Van Horne (broadcasters). No, you can’t count Andre Dawson, although he is from Miami.

25. Cleveland Indians, 1: Roberto Alomar. When Bob Feller died late last year, it left one of baseball’s oldest franchises without a living HOFer, until Alomar was elected earlier this year.

26. Seattle Mariners, 1: Pat Gillick (executive). Randy Johnson will probably beat out Ken Griffey Jr. as their first player in the Hall, unless the voters really shift in favor of Edgar Martinez, or Lou Piniella gets elected as a manager by the Veterans’ Committee (in which case the Reds could also claim him, and maybe the Yankees, but not the Rays or Cubs).

27. Arizona Diamondbacks, none. Randy Johnson will probably be the first, barring steroid evidence.

28. Tampa Bay Rays, none. No, you can’t count Wade Boggs.

29. Colorado Rockies, none. Unless Andres Galarraga or Larry Walker somehow get in, the number will remain at zero for a long time to come. The still-active Todd Helton may not make it, either. But Charlie Jones, who was their first radio announcer, won the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Award for broadcasting.

30. Washington Nationals, none. No, you can’t count their first manager, Frank Robinson. Nor can you count the Montreal Expos’ HOFers with them: Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Dave Van Horne (broadcaster).