Whitey, the Mick and one Cool Papa

August 12, 1974 was quite a day in Cooperstown, as Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford (top left and right in the picture) became the first two teammates, and infamous drinking buddies, to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame together.

Here's how the Mick started out his induction speech:

"Thank you very much, Commissioner. I would really like to thank you for leaving out those strikeouts. He gave all those records, but he didn't say anything about all those strikeouts. I was the world champion in striking out and everything, I'm sure. I don't know for sure, but I'm almost positive I must have had that record in the World Series, too. I broke Babe Ruth's record for all-time strikeouts. He only had, like, 1,500 I think. I ended up with 1,710. So that's one that no one will ever break probably, because, if you strike out that much, you don't get to play very long. I just lucked out."

The two men sitting in the picture above are Cool Papa Bell and umpire Jocko Conlan, both also inducted to the Hall in 1974. Bell (real name - James Thomas Bell) was the fifth Negro League player to enter the Hall, after Satchel Page, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Monte Irvin. Still renowned as the fastest man ever to play professional baseball, Bell played 24 years in the Negro Leagues, including stints with the legendary Kansas City Monarchs and Homestead Grays. Josh Gibson once said that Bell was "so fast he could get out of bed, turn out the lights across the room and be back in bed under the covers before the lights went out," a claim that Ali would later appropriate for himself.