I write this as a very proud, and a bit sad, granddaughter.

On Sunday, my grandfather -- the late Pirates Manager Danny Murtaugh -- was on the ballot to be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. While he came up short (thus the sadness), it is an awesome feeling to have your grandfather a finalist for such an honor.

Although I was only 2 when he died (31 years ago Sunday, the voting day), I have been regaled with stories about him my entire life.

My grandfather was by all accounts a unique man. He was an excellent manager. In his 15 seasons managing the Pirates, he had a .540 winning percentage and won two World Championships (1960 and 1971). He was named the Sporting News' Manager of the Year twice (1960 and 1970). In 1960, he was also named "Man of the Year" by Sport magazine.

In 1971, my grandfather managed the first ever all-black lineup in baseball history. Asked about it after the game, he said he didn't look at the color of their skin, he looked at their playing abilities.

In 1999, he was chosen as manager for the Pirates Team of the Century.

My grandfather was also a down-to-earth family man. He came from humble beginnings and didn't leave them behind as his fame grew. He seldom did endorsements; but when he did, he quietly donated his earnings to charity.

He was always a practical joker. When he was a young man without any money, he got a job with a men's clothing store in Chester, Pa. The owner befriended him and gave him work even though he didn't really need any help. Later, when he was a successful baseball manager, my grandfather would go back and help in the store during the off-season because people would come to see him and then buy clothes.

One Christmas a man came in to buy a suit. My grandfather told him to lie down on the floor and he did a chalk outline of him. He told the man that it was the new way to get suit measurements -- the tailor comes and measures from the chalk outline. Soon everyone that came in was getting a chalk outline. One of my grandfather's cousins came home and his wife told him she couldn't believe people would be dumb enough to lie down and get outlined in chalk. "Quiet, Mary," the cousin said. "I was one of them."

My grandfather retired four times from the manager post due to health concerns, but he was always willing to go back when General Manager Joe Brown needed him. In 1976 he retired for the last time because he wanted to spend more time with his grandkids. Sadly, he died just a few months later.

Our family has always been proud of my grandfather -- for his baseball accomplishments, of course, but more so for the way he lived his life.

His managerial record ranks him with the best of the best, and we are happy that the Hall of Fame Historical Overview Committee recognized this by placing him on the ballot.

We hope to see him elected some day.