Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 25, 1966. In his induction speech, Williams included a statement calling for the recognition of the great Negro leagues players: "I've been a very lucky guy to have worn a baseball uniform, and I hope some day the names of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson in some way can be added as a symbol of the great Negro players who are not here only because they weren't given a chance." His successor in left field, Carl Yastrzemski, joined Williams in Cooperstown in 1989, while Yastrzemski's successor, Jim Rice, was elected in 2009, creating one of the few known instances of Hall of Famers directly succeeding one another at the same position.