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  • 2004-01-12 (xsd:date)
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  • Are Abbott and Costello Members of Baseball's Hall of Fame? (en)
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  • Although numerous plays, musicals, films, books, and television programs have melded humor with the sport of baseball, the quintessential amalgamation of comedy and the American national pastime remains the renowned Who's on First? skit popularized by thecomedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Drawn from stock burlesque sketches and honed to perfection by Abbott and Costello over many years and thousands of performances, the skit — which plays on the predictable confusion involved in keeping track of a baseball roster stocked with players bearing names such as Who, What, and I Don't Know — was a staple of the duo's radio appearances from the late 1930s through the 1940s as well as the centerpiece of their 1945 feature film, The Naughty Nineties. (So popular was the comedy routine, rumor had it, that the pair was contractually obligated to perform it at least once a month on their radio program.) The enduring popularity of the Who's on First? sketch created a similarly enduring association between Abbott and Costello and baseball, contributing to the mistaken belief that the comedians have been the only people with no professional connection to the sport to be honored with induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Erroneous statements to this effect, such as the following, can be found on a variety of web sites: As of 2019, the Hall of Fame has so far enshrined 323 members, but Abbott and Costello don't number among them, nor do any other non-baseball personnel — all members are former players, managers, executives, or umpires. (The Hall of Fame honors baseball writers and broadcasters with the J.G. Taylor Spink Award and the Ford C. Frick Award, respectively, but these honorees are not officially members of the Hall itself.) According to the Hall of Fame's FAQ: The confusion probably stems from a May 1956 announcement that a recording and transcript of the famous routine were going to be put on permanent display in the National Baseball Hall of Fame museum: (News of the honor could not have been broken as a surprise to Abbott and Costello on The Steve Allen Show, as that program's debut didn't occur until a month after the public announcement quoted above.) The belief that Abbott and Costello are in the Hall of Fame as members is understandable given that the official name of the Cooperstown baseball institution is the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and the museum portion (where the Who's on First? recording is housed) is far more prominent — occupying about 93% of the exhibit space — than the gallery where the inductees' plaques are displayed. The misassociation of the museum exhibits with the Hall itself has led to similar mistakes: In the coda to the 1992 film A League of Their Own, veterans of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) are announced as the first women ever to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but in fact they were simply recognized with the addition of a permanent Women in Baseball museum exhibit in 1988. Although Abbott and Costello may not be actual members of the Hall of Fame, they're featured more prominently in the museum than some of the figures who are. For two men who never set foot on a professional baseball field in any official capacity, that's quite an honor. (en)
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