Veterans Committee to consider LaRussa, Torre, Simmons, Quisenberry for Hall of Fame

Four former St. Louis Cardinals are on the list that was released today of players and managers who will be considered by the Veterans Committee when it casts its Hall of Fame ballots.

Tony LaRussa, who guided the Cardinals and the Oakland A's to six World Series appearances and three world championships and is the third-winningest manager of all time, is joined by three other powerhouse managers- Torre, who led the Cardinals in the pre-LaRussa era, and had stints with the Mets and Dodgers, but is best known for piling up the world championships with the Yankees at the beginning of the Derek Jeter/Mariano Rivera era, Bobby Cox, who led the Braves to 15 consecutive division championshiops and one world championship, and the late Billy Martin, who managed the Yankees five times.

Torre, of course, also played for the Cardinals, coming over in the 1969 trade that sent former MVP and Cardinal fan favorite Orlando Cepeda to the Braves.

In 1971, the slow-footed Torre, had an MVP season, leading the NL with a .363 average.

Ted Simmons, one of the best hitting catchers of all time, had the misfortune of playing with the Cardinals during their slack times in the 1970. He did not reach the World Series until late in his career, when he led the Milwaukee Brewers to the Series and a seven-game loss to his former team, the Cardinals.

The other former Cardinal to be considered, the late Dan Quisenberry, had one solid season as a setup reliever in St. Louis, but spent most of his career as the submarining closer for the Kansas City Royals.