Ripken Jr. endorses Rice, Gossage for HOF; Gwynn speaks up for Dawson

ESPN - USA - One fringe benefit to making the Baseball Hall of Fame is the opportunity to lobby for former teammates and peers to join the club. Ted Williams believed strongly that Dom DiMaggio should be in Cooperstown, and Mike Schmidt spoke up for Pete Rose during his induction speech.

Williams and Schmidt didn't have much of an impact, it turns out. But that doesn't prevent every new class from maintaining the tradition.

Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, who'll enter the Hall of Fame on Sunday, weighed in with their endorsements during a news conference Saturday. When asked which players are most deserving of a spot in Cooperstown, Ripken mentioned Jim Rice and Goose Gossage, while Gwynn spoke up for Andre Dawson.

Coincidentally, those three players finished third, fourth and fifth in the 2007 balloting. Gossage came the closest with 71.2 percent of the vote, just 21 votes short of the 75 percent necessary for induction.