Posted: Sat August 2, 1997 at 2:28 PM ET

COOPERSTOWN, New York -- To the world, Cooperstown means baseball, but never more than on one summer weekend.

The Baseball Hall of Fame doesn't add to its mystic lineup every year. But Sunday, the roster will grow by four and the new names will join a galaxy of stars that dot the baseball heavens.

The names that reverberate at Cooperstown and the faces that fill the hallowed halls are legendary: Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Henry Aaron, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle. And this weekend, the list grows longer. Joining this immortal lineup is Phil Niekro, a right-handed pitcher and the son of a coal miner and industrial league pitcher who taught him, among other things, an inexhaustible work ethic and a knuckleball.

"Every day in the back yard, coming back from the coal mine, before he went to work, me and [brother] Joe would sit on the back porch and wait for him. And as soon as he came back from work, we'd go in the back yard and play knuckleball. I never played Little League. I never played the Colt League and all that stuff."

Phil Niekro was no can't-miss kid.

He signed with the Braves for $500, labored in the minor leagues and mastered the knuckleball, a pitch that carried him to an astounding 318 major league victories.

Niekro didn't become a full-time starting pitcher in the majors until age 29. But he won 121 games after the age of 40. His flutterball was baffling, the knuckler so slow you could time it with a calendar.

Some people didn't expect a lot from Niekro. He, however, expected much of himself, and said it was guts and guile that got him to Cooperstown.

"To go out there and throw a baseball 45 to 65 mph, pitch after pitch after pitch for 23 years, you better have something going some place, because that's not a very intimidating pitch.

"Everybody in the ballpark, everybody in the world knows it's coming. So you got to have something inside your head, or your gut, to say: `I don't care, here it comes. Hit it if you can.'"

Wake up, Tommy

Tom Lasorda use to have a recurring childhood dream. He was pitching for the Yankees. Lou Gehrig was his first baseman, Joe Dimaggio was in center. Babe Ruth was in the outfield too. Then his mother woke him up.

"I didn't want to leave that dream," Lasorda said. "That dream was so real. I'd say, 'Why did she wake me up?' Now, I know one thing. After being inducted into the Hall of Fame, I'm going to feel my mother shaking me, saying, 'Wake up, Tommy. It's time to go to school.' I'm living a dream, a real dream."

Lasorda is living his dream this weekend in Cooperstown, though he didn't pitch his way here.

He was 0-4 lifetime on the mound. But, Lasorda carved out his immortal niche managing the Dodgers for 20 years. He won with speed, power, pitching, defense. The styles and faces changed, but Lasorda didn't.

He prepared, he motivated, he preached, he played his hunches and now his name will live on, which leaves him overwhelmed and terrified.

"I'm walking into Cooperstown, and I'm scared to death because I know one thing. I'm going to be standing up there in front of all those people, and all these Hall of Famers, and pour out my heart to the people who made all of this possible."

The Hall of Fame will add two more names this weekend.

Also joining the Hall will be slick-fielding shortstop Willie Wells hit .331 during a 20-year career in the Negro Leagues, and Nellie Fox, a 12-time all-star second baseman who won the MVP award in 1959 and was the catalyst for the "Go-go White Sox" that went to the World Series that year.

Four men make their way here this weekend in body or spirit. They took divergent paths, perhaps different dreams, but ultimately performance is what got them here. Now baseball fans who come here can recollect or discover what made each of them great.