Pirates' 1st Hall of Fame class will include Steve Blass, and who else?

This year’s voting results for baseball’s Hall of Fame will be announced Tuesday night, and Derek Jeter almost certainly will headline the Class of 2020.

Later this year, at a date to be determined, the first class of the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame will be announced.

Details are scant other than Steve Blass will be in the inaugural class, and the plaques of inductees will be hung somewhere in PNC Park.

What is certain is the Pirates are getting a late start on having a Hall of Fame. The franchise has been around since 1882, and plenty of great players have worn the uniform.

So who should be the charter members of the Hall of Fame beyond Blass? It’s a question that can be debated because there are many worthy candidates.

Including Blass, five seems like a good number of inductees to begin the process. Here are four who would be hard for anyone to argue:

Honus Wagner

Simply put, he is the greatest player in Pirates’ history. The Carnegie native played shortstop for 18 seasons for his hometown team from 1900-17, hitting .328/.394/.467 with 82 home runs and 639 stolen bases.

While the home run total seems meager, especially by today’s standards, Wagner played in the Dead Ball Era. His power also was hurt by playing home games at cavernous Forbes Field.

The steals are particularly impressive considering the 5-foot-11, 200-pound Wagner was one of the biggest players in baseball during his career.

Wagner’s career ended before the creation of the All-Star Game and the Baseball Writers Association of America’s MVP awards began. Yet, he has eight National League batting titles on his resume and historians believe he could have won as many as six MVPs.

Roberto Clemente

Clemente is remembered as much for his untimely death in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve in 1972 in Puerto Rico as his playing career. However, he was one of the most talented players in major league history.

From 1955-72, Clemente batted .317/.359/.475 with 240 homers. He was the 1966 NL MVP, won four batting titles and 12 Gold Gloves for his excellent play and strong arm in right field, and he was selected to 15 All-Star Games.

He also was MVP when the Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1971 World Series. Dying while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua only adds to the legend.

Paul Waner

It was hard to understand why the Pirates waited until 2007 to retire Waner’s No. 11, an honor that came 67 years after he played his final game for the franchise. They can right that wrong by inducting him into their Hall of Fame.

Waner hit .340/.407/.490 with 109 homers and 100 steals in 15 seasons (1925-40) in Pittsburgh. He was the NL MVP when the Pirates won the pennant in 1927 and captured three batting titles.

All these years later, Waner is still considered one of the best pure hitters in baseball history.

Willie Stargell

Stargell’s 475 home runs in 21 seasons (1962-82) remain the franchise record, and it is easy to wonder how many more he would have hit if he hadn’t played his first 9½ seasons at Forbes Field.

Stargell also wasn’t an all-or-nothing slugger. Though he did strike out 1,936 times in his career, he batted .282/.360/.529.

Stargell’s name was etched in Pirates lore when he led them to victory over the Orioles in seven games in the 1979 World Series. He was the Fall Classic and co-MVP of the NL that season.

The Pirates haven’t been back to World Series since ’79, a drought that makes Stargell look better with each passing year.