The "Maz 2001" Club has only six days left before they find out if their year-long mission will be a successful one.

The Hall of Fame Veterans Committee meets Tuesday in Tampa, and will announce any electees for the Aug. 5 Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown.

Last year, former Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski missed election by a single vote.

In August, a group of Little League players from his hometown of Hempfield, Pa. traveled to Cooperstown and presented letters of support for Mazeroski to Hall of Fame spokesman Jeff Idelson, who in turn forwarded them to all members of the Veterans Committee.

"We've got our fingers and toes crossed," said Gary Harvat, who manages the Little League team and has helped spearhead the movement to elect Mazeroski. "We received response from the Veterans Committee and also a separate letter from Ted Williams. Mr. Williams said he would remember the letter when the Committee voted, and that he had always been a fan of Bill Mazeroski's."

Mazeroski, a six-time National League All Star at second base, hit one of the most famous home runs in World Series history in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game Seven of the 1960 World Series, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10-9 victory and the World Series championship over the heavily-favored New York Yankees.

But it was Mazeroski's fielding, he finished his 14-year career with a .980 fielding percentage, helping to turn over 1,700 double plays, and his popularity which may help him earn immortality this summer.

"No player has received more support for the Hall of Fame than Bill Mazersoski, not only from Pittsburgh but all across the country," Idelson said last summer.

"He studied the game and he didn't just play baseball, he mastered it, especially defensively," Michael Harvat, one of the Little League players in Cooperstown last summer, said.

The Diamond-Stars played in The Cooperstown Baseball World tournament in Oneonta last summer with the slogan "Maz 2001" embroidered on their hats and uniforms.

"One of the rules for getting into the Hall of Fame is to look at a player's character, integrity and sportsmanship, and everyone agrees Mazeroski had plenty of those traits," Idelson said. "Now all he needs is a little luck. Earning election is hard."

Other former players who came close in voting last year include Dom DiMaggio, Gil Hodges and Tony Oliva. Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog joins the ballot, as does longtime Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley.

The Veterans Committee includes chairman Joe Brown, Hank Aaron, Yogi Berra, Juan Marichal, Stan Musial, Ted williams, John McHale, Buck O'Neil, Hank Peters, Bill White, Jerome Holtzman Len Koppett, Allen Lewis and Ernie Harwell.