Letter to the editor: Law should be in Pirates Hall of Fame

How can the Pittsburgh Pirates screw up their team’s Hall of Fame selections three years in a row? In 2022, they named 19 players and omitted three important living members of the 1960 World Champion team. I’m talking about Elroy Face, Dick Groat and Vernon Law. They even included players who never played for the Pirates.

Last year, they compounded the issue by again leaving off Law, while showing their error of the year before by selecting Face and Groat, who unfortunately died before the induction ceremonies. His death only adds to the indignation of the year before. How can they have 19 one year and only five the next in the first place?

This year, they only added three, and once again no Law. The guy pitched his whole career for the Pirates, ended with 162 wins and missed two years while serving his country. He had a lifetime winning pitching percentage while playing for some pretty awful Pirate teams during the early 1950s. A role model for everyone, who has one of the greatest quotes of all time: “Experience is a hard teacher because it gives you the test first, the lesson afterwards.”

What are those in charge with this Pirates Hall of Fame waiting for? I’m not sure what the process is for voting, but someone should explain Vernon “Deacon” Law’s omission. Those living who remember the 1960 World Series and Law’s two victories over the powerful New York Yankees deserve to know.

Jay Knapp

Moundsville, W.Va.