Kirby Puckett is the 3rd youngest; two were younger than him.
How do I know this? The news the other night had a little trivia on it, one of those “We’ll tell you the answer…right after this.” Of course I missed the answer, else I wouldn’t be here asking.
So … who were the other two?
[sub]I REALLY misses Puck in centerfield.[/sub]
I don’t know the years they were elected or how old they were when it happened. I suppose if you want to know, at least you know where to look. Both of them were dominant for the short careers.
Aw, Dignan, you rock 
Thanks 
Gehrig was inducted in 1939 in a special election after he retired.
Koufax was inducted in 1972 after the usual five-year waiting period. He just retired when he was 30 because of chronic elbow problems.
Gehrig received 51 Hall of Fame votes in 1936, when he was still playing. 1936 was the first election and there was no requirement that retired players could only be considered. Rogers Hornsby and Mickey Cochrane received more votes than Gehrig as active players.
Puckett was the the 4th oldest. A quick query of the Lahman database shows this:
Gehrig Lou 36
Koufax Sandy 37
Clemente Roberto 39
Puckett Kirby 40
And I’ve read now in other sources that Puckett was actually born in 1960, not 1961 as he claims.
OK, but was Clemente “elected” or enshrined by acclamation? I was only 12 at the time, but I do recall he was put in the hall the year after he died, and less than a full year after his last MLB game.
– Beruang
Clemente was duly elected by the BBWA, receiving 393 votes out of a total of 424. It was a standard HOF election, except that due to Clemente’s death, they waived the five-year waiting period.