Roberto Clemente was the first voted in. But that wasn’t his only distinction at the time. He was also, tragically, only the second ballplayer who did not have to wait five years after retiring to become eligible. The first was Lou Gehrig, for whom the rule was waived after he died at a premature age. It was waived again for Clemente after he died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972, while flying supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua. He was elected the following March.

Four years later, it wasn’t so much a case of tragedy as delayed justice when Martín Dihigo became the first Latino who never played in the majors to enter the Hall. While Dihigo, a Cuban black man, was at the height of his career, the major leagues banned players of African ancestry. His official biography at Cooperstown speaks of his career in the Negro Leagues and the summer leagues in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba. Dihigo is a member of the halls of fame in the last two countries.

Also in 1977, a gentleman born in Tampa was elected to the Hall of Fame because of his success as a catcher and (especially) a manager in the 1950s and 1960s. Most lists of Hispanic Hall of Famers do not include him. But how to leave out Alfonso Ramón López, the son of Spanish immigrants by way of Cuba who grew up in Tampa’s Ybor City, one of the first Latino neighborhoods in the United States?

The fourth Latino Hall of Famer was also the first Dominican member, and the first to become sports minister of his country. Juan Marichal, the great right-hander with the distinctive “high kick” windup, entered the Hall in 1983. In 2000, while he was in office, Marichal helped bring to his home country the Hall’s first-ever exhibit in Latin America.

Next came Venezuelan shortstop Luis Aparicio, in 1984. He was the fourth foreign-born Latino in a row to be the first Hall of Famer from his native country. With his election, the four Spanish-speaking countries where baseball is indisputably the national sport, and which have sent by far the largest number of players to the majors, were all finally represented at Cooperstown.

Seven years passed for the next Hispanic to enter the Hall of Fame: Rod Carew, the first Panamanian enshrined. In 1977 he became the first Latino to win the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually by Major League Baseball to “a player who demonstrates values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others.”

Orlando Cepeda, the seventh Hispanic and second Puerto Rican in the Hall of Fame, overcame serious injuries several times in his career (he missed most of six of his 19 seasons). He also overcame a drug problem. Today the “Baby Bull” visits inner-city schools throughout the country to warn against drugs and alcohol.

The Hispanic player most recently voted in was Tony Pérez, in 2000. If Dihigo holds the distinction of being the first Cuban in Cooperstown, Pérez is the first Cuban major leaguer in Cooperstown. He spoke of that heritage the day he was inducted.

“I came from a poor, hard-working family, but rich in love and respect,” he said in his speech. “My father had a tremendous admiration for Minnie Miñoso, a star in our country. One day I told my mother, Tita, ‘I'm going to be like him.’ She said, ‘Son, I wish you luck. But it ain’t going to be easy.’ Well, it wasn’t easy, Tita, but here I am.”