Jim Kaat, Hall of Fame class finally done waiting: 'It's about time!'

It is incredible to think that Jim Kaat waited 32 years to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

It is more incredible that after a 25-year career and eight decades in the game, the Zeeland native was alive to see it.

As teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven simply put it: “It’s about time.”

Waiting is the lasting theme of Kaat and the Class of 2022 — seven inductees, just three alive.

For decades, the lasting theme of this class was heartbreak.

Incredibly, Kaat’s wait of 32 years is the shortest of the class (not counting David Ortiz who was elected by the writers on his first ballot).

His teammate, Tony Oliva, first hit a Hall of Fame ballot 45 years ago before the three-time batting champion finally was elected, after several years coming heartbreakingly close.  Now the five-time hit leader and eight-time All-Star is where he belongs.

“For me, I thought I had a chance at making the Hall of Fame my first time, but it didn’t happen,” Oliva said. “I am very happy that it finally happened. And I am so happy to go in with Jim Kaat.”

Minnie Minoso, the first Black Latino star in the majors finally made the Hall of Fame after technically a wait of 52 years, but it was really more like 35 years. He debuted on the ballot in 1969 but then was taken off of it because he came back to play multiple times. He was a 13-time All-Star and came close numerous times — for this writer, he was the most egregious omission for years because of his play and his place in history.

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But the longest wait was for Gil Hodges, or more accurately his family.

Hodges was elected more than a half-century after he first hit the ballot. The Brooklyn first baseman slugged 370 home runs, won the first three Gold Glove awards and helped the Dodgers to two titles, then managed the Miracle Mets to the World Series title in 1969 before dying three years later. He was the only player to receive 60% of the writers vote and not be elected (75% needed and he reached more than 60 several times).

Add it up and it is four players who waited more than 32 years to finally take their rightful place, alongside Ortiz and Negro Leagues selections Buck O’Neil and Bud Fowler, who had a different kind of wait. That is collectively more than 160 years of waiting.

Hodges didn’t live to see it, though his widow Joan did. Minoso died in 2015 after missing by just a couple of votes twice by the Golden Era committee.

Thankfully, Kaat and Oliva, both at age 83, were around to experience the honor in full force.

A generation from now, fans looking at the plaques of this class won’t understand the heartbreak and anguish of decades of waiting. They will see them as they should, as Hall of Famers.

That is the legacy of the Class of 2022.

Forever bonded by the long wait and jubilant entrance to the Hall of Fame, it is fitting that Kaat is in a corner next to Oliva with Hodges and Minoso above them. Those four — and their families, friends and fans — have waited forever for this moment.

Now, they can enjoy it forever.

— Contact Sports Editor Dan D'Addona at Dan.D'Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona and Facebook @Holland Sentinel Sports.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Jim Kaat, Hall of Fame class finally done waiting: 'It's about time!'