P,
Regarding Rizzuto - I just don't know. The Vets committee put him in, and I forget who came first, him or Ozzie Smith, but here's the deal. Rizzuto was a lifetime .278 hitter, with a .968 fielding percentage. Smith was a career .262 hitter, but sported a .978 fielding percentage. I throw out the Gold Gloves in this comparison, because the award didn't exist when Rizzuto played. So by those comparisons, if you put one in, the other should be in, particularly since both played their careers where generally speaking, shortstops weren't offensive players (Cal aside, in the case of Ozzie).
Was Ozzie the best defensive shortstop of his era - of course. He was also, particularly in his 20s, a liability on offense. He put up respectable offensive stats in his 30s when the game started to trend toward offense. Rizzuto, I assume was one of the best defenders at SS in his era. He missed three years (in his mid-20s), where I think he could have hit .275/.280 if you look at the numbers, and a few more seasons to improve that fielding percentage. Offensively, I think he was average, even in that era.
So if you put Ozzie in, I think you gotta put in Phil. And that's probably what the Vets committee looked at. But I think Ozzie was voted in, in large part because we started paying so much attention to defensive metrics (which is good), but also because of his athleticism and all the highlight stuff. Not that that is wrong, but if you compare those two guys, I think Rizzuto deserves the honor too.
If it were me, I think both are borderline. Ozzie's fielding percentage at ss is 21st all time - hardly the best. Rizzuto's is 117 all time. So Ozzy is better, but looking JUST at that metric. With Ozzie being lauded for his defense, at least fielding percentage wise, plenty of guys are better who won't be Hall of Famers. So why is Ozzie?
I just really don't think either should be in. Ozzie got the benefit of highlights at GG awards, whereas Phil got the sympathy of the veterans committee. The whole Hall of FAME is now the Hall of VERY GOOD. Its no longer the best to ever play, its been changed to the best of certain time periods. And I think that takes away something in a sport where the game has been played pretty similarly over the course of its existence (relatively speaking in comparison to other sports).