Frank Selee Marquee Hall of Fame 1999

Frank Selee never played professionally; his Hall of Fame case rests on building Boston's clubs of the 1890s and the Chicago infield that succeeded him. Born in October 1859 and dead in July 1909, he appeared on six ballots before the Veterans Committee elected him in 1999.

What he is in the Hall for is sixteen seasons in the dugout, 1,284 wins against 862 losses, and five first-place finishes, every one of them with Boston in the National League between 1891 and 1898. He took over Chicago in 1902 and was gone by the middle of 1905, and the club he left behind won 116 games the season after that.

What he is credited with is judging players: he put Joe Tinker at shortstop, moved Johnny Evers to second and Frank Chance from catcher to first base, and the infield he assembled won without him. Tuberculosis forced him out in 1905 and killed him four years later at forty-nine, ninety years before he was elected.