Twenty-six sun rises until the most important day of the year, March 31, Opening Day*, so let's get in the baseball spirit with a fun blog idea from reader Richard Coxsey, who asks, "What is the maximum number of future Hall of Famers to oppose one another in a major league baseball game?"

*Just edging out the all-important March 26, the last day to request unconditional release waivers on a player without having to pay his full salary.**

**I'm totally stealing this footnote thing from Tommy Tomlinson at the Charlotte Observer, who stole it from Joe Posnanski at the Kansas City Star, who stole it from David Foster Wallace, an award-winning novelist, short-story genius and college professor. (Note to self: Be something when you grow up.) I gave you links to Tommy and Joe's blogs, but don't bother. Pure hacks. Often, they are asking me, "Matt, how can we be more like you and your blog at the Fresno Bee, you know, except with the national awards and guady readership followings that we have already achieved??" (They are smarty-pants, those two.) OK, fine, read them. They're great.

Richard, who clearly does not pose blog questions in a willy-nilly manner, gives us some parameters. The players have to have actually participated in the game, appeared in the box score somewhere, even if it's just to pinch run or throw an inning of relief. Making it to the on-deck circle or warming up in the bullpen does not qualify.

Basically, we're looking for a historic gathering of baseball greatness, the most Hall of Fame members to appear in one major league game, the most hallowed box score of all time. Since it's his idea, I'll let Richard throw out a few possibilities ...

"In 1961 in St Louis, I was fortunate enough to see three baseball pitchers who were later inducted. Sandy Koufax started for the Dodgers, followed by Don Drysdale and Bob Gibson came in for the Cardinals as a set up man. Stan Musial was in still with the Cards and they had traded the Cubs for Lou Brock, so that's a total of 5."

OK, my hunch is that Richard was off by a year, because -- and I'm embarrassed to tell you how much time I spent researching this paragraph -- there was no game in 1961 that included Drysdale, Gibson and Koufax. On May 12, 1962, however, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 6-5, a five-hour game in which Drysdale started for the Dodgers and threw the first six innings. Drysdale came in to pitch the bottom of the 15th and took the loss. Gibson pitched the last five innings for the Cardinals and got the win. This HAS to be the game Richard is talking about. I would bet all the money in my saving's account on it. And what a game to have seen. The Cardinals' right-fielder, Doug Clemens, (no relation to Mr. HGH) came up against Drysdale in the 15th and singled to right. Drysdale then hit shortstop Julio Gotay with a pitch. Just when momentum was building for the Cards, Drysdale picked Clemens off second. Then when it looked like the rally had died, he walked Gibson and eventually gave up a game-winning single to second baseman Julian Javier.

As for how many Hall-of-Famers were in that game, Richard was right. It was five, though not exactly the five he was thinking. Stan Musial, who was nearing retirement, pinch-hit for the Cards in the bottom of the 8th, walked and came out for a pinch-runner. No Lou Brock, though. The Cards didn't trade for him until '64. The fifth guy in that game was Dodgers' legend Duke Snider, who was still pinch-hitting near the end of his career.

So there's your first contestant in this Hall-of-Fame, nearly-impossible-to-play-along-at-home, trivia game.

May 12, 1962*** ... Sportsman's Park, St. Louis, Mo. ... Dodgers: Don Drysdale (inducted 1984), Duke Snider (1980), and Sandy Koufax (1972) ... Cardinals: Stan Musial (1969) and Bob Gibson (1981).

***There were a couple near-misses in this game. A lot of people believe Dodger leadoff hitter Maury Wills should be in the Hall and it's pretty tough to argue against. The guy stole 104 bases that season and was named NL MVP. Wills was picked for the All-Star Game five different years, might have been the best shortstop of his time, and hit for much better average than a lot of other guys at the position who are in Cooperstown. Also -- and the Hall always seems to give extra consideration to guys who changed the game -- Wills' base-stealing ability launched a speed era in baseball. Simple as that. The other was Cardinals' lead-off man Curt Flood, who had a good career (he hit .293 over 15 seasons) and will always be famous as the baseball player who fought for free-agency. He took it all the way to the Supreme Court and gave up at least a year of his career to do it. Alas, neither is in the Hall of Fame. Wills got closest in 1981 when he got 41.6% of the vote. Flood's best year in the voting was 15.1%

One last thing before we leave the Dodgers/Cards of the early '60s. Gil Hodges isn't in the Hall of Fame? Is that possible? Was looking through the 1961 box scores and saw his name and just assumed he was in. He has 370 homers, which for that era isn't too bad. Though, on the other hand, he was a first-baseman who never led the league in any offensive category.

Can I just say I'm a little blown away by how well Richard remembers a game that happened 46 years ago. He was exactly right on all three pitchers and when they came into the game. A woman asked me for the last four digits of my Social Security the other day and I had to dig through my wallet.

Moving along ...

Richard writes: "A game that might have taken place in the early 1950 era between the Giants and the Dodgers could have had Willie Mays and Willie McCovey (not sure of Orlando Cepeda) with Juan Marichal pitching, against Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, and Duke Snider of the Dodgers which would give a total of 7 or 8 depending on whether Cepeda had not already been traded to the Cardinals."

The problem with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers vs. the New York/San Francisco Giants of the late '50s is that not enough of the Hall-of-Famers overlap. All the Dodgers retired just before the Giants came along. Robinson's last year was '56, Campanella's was '57 and Reese left after '58. (Did you know Don Newcombe isn't in the Hall? Of course you did. I, however, am in a brief state of shock.)**** The Giants brought in Cepeda in '58, McCovey in '59, and Marichal in '60. We could no doubt find a game with Robinson, Campanella, Reese and Mays, but that's only four and isn't getting it done.

****Don Zimmer also played on the '58 and '59 Dodgers, though this is more of a fun fact than helpful one, since he was a career .235 hitter and hasn't received even one Hall-of-Fame vote. Maybe someday, if there's a push for spunky bench coaches with cool nicknames and the nerve to fight guys one-third their age, Zim will have a shot. Although I still contend that if you put Zimmer and Pedro Martinez in a boxing ring today, with short rounds and plenty of oxygen in Popeye's corner, the thing goes at least four rounds.

Richard gets us back on track: "Anyone who caught the Reds during their dominant years in the seventies could count 4, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and OK, let's count Pete Rose anyway, he certainly had the credentials and will, I think, wind up in the Hall."

Well, we cannot count Pete Rose, because as much as some people wish he was (not me), he is not in the Hall of Fame, and not being in the Hall of Fame is somewhat against the spirit and theme of the current blog topic. But this Reds' team is a good place to look. As Richard has pointed out, the Big Red Machine had Bench, Morgan and Perez. If we back up to 1969, and catch the end of Ernie Banks' career, we might be on to something. On June 13, 1969, a beautiful***** Friday afternoon, the Cubs beat the Reds 14-8. Hall-of-Famer Billy Williams, playing left field, had two RBI for the Cubs. Fergie Jenkins started the game on the hill and got roughed up pretty good, five earned in five innings. The great Ernie Banks played first base and hit a solo homer in the third. Also, as a little-known added Hall of Fame bonus, the Cubs' manager in '69 was Leo Durocher. The veteran's committee voted Durocher into the Hall in 1994 as a manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Whether you want to count managers in this little exercise is up to you. He didn't play, obviously, but his name probably did appear on the lineup sheet. Your call.

*****I have no proof that it was beautiful that day, other than it was June.

So that's four Cubs, including Durocher, but unfortunately, there were only two Hall-of-Fame Reds at that point since Joe Morgan was still with Houston. (We had to sacrifice Morgan to get Banks and Durocher.) Perez played third that Friday and had a sacrifice fly. Bench caught and went 3-for-4. Pete Rose stood in center, probably playing hard, but thinking about the ponies.

So there's entry No. 2. That's six Hall-of-Famers, if you count a manager.

June 13, 1969 ... Crosley Field, Cincinnati, Ohio. ... Reds: Johnny Bench (inducted 1989) and Tony Perez (2000), ... Cubs: Billy Williams (1987), Fergie Jenkins (1991) Ernie Banks (1977) and manager Leo Durocher (1994).

If we jump forward a few years we can top that, though. Sunday, July 23, 1972, the Reds against the Pirates. The Reds started Bench, Perez and Morgan. Rose was in left this time, still not in the Hall of Fame. Not that I would call them near-Cooperstown-misses, but the Reds also had Dave Concepcion at third and Hal McRae pinch-hit that day. Yeah, there was a lineup with Dave Concepcion hitting seventh. Opposing pitchers must still be jerking awake at 3 a.m., yelling, "DON'T HANG THE CURVE!" The Pirates had Willie Stargell at first base, Roberto Clemente in right field and Mr. Big Home Run, Bill Mazeriski, 12 years after he won the World Series with one swing, playing second base. All three are in the Hall. Stargell doubled twice and the Pirates won, 3-2. That's six total Hall-of-Famers in that game. And, now that we've opened the managers' can-of-spring-loaded-snakes, in '72 the Reds were managed by none other than Hall-of-Famer Sparky Anderson.

Shop around, you will not find information this useless, anywhere on the Web.

July 23, 1972 ... Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pa. ... Reds: Johnny Bench (inducted 1989), Tony Perez (2000) and Joe Morgan (1990) ... Pirates: Roberto Clemente (1973), Bill Mazeroski (2001) Willie Stargell (1988) and manager Sparky Anderson (1994).

OK, I'm going to get fired if I don't get some actual work done. Feel free to make submissions for your greatest box score. There obviously is a right answer, but I haven't found it, and it's more fun to research than to actually discover. My gut tells me it's a game in either 1929 or 1930 between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia A's. Get this. The 1929 Yankees' roster had NINE future Hall-of-Famers: Earle Combs, Leo Durocher, Waite Hoyt, Tony Lazzeri, Herb Pennock, Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and manager Miller Huggins. That's absurd. The 1930 Yankees lost Huggins and Durocher, but gained Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez. Still nine. The 1929 and 1930 Philadelphia A's had Hall-of-Famers Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, Ed Collins and Lefty Grove.

Probably never happened, but that's a possibility of 14 future Hall-of-Famers in one game. I can't find box scores that go back that far, but I'm hoping there was a game where Lefty Gomez faced Lefty Grove. Can you imagine the fun the play-by-play announcer could have had? And if one of them had actually been a righty? Absolute chaos for the tongue. (They both really were lefties, unfortunately.)

Thanks for the idea, Richard. I'll keep thinking on this one. The rest of you pass along your suggestions.