HoF Voting Question

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

I have been looking this up, but no sources are giving me a blunt answer. My question is this: Do the voters get a certain number of ballots or can they vote for any amount of people they want? I know, not a hard question but honestly, I am not too knowledgable on the actual voting process.

[Brad Harris]

I have been looking this up, but no sources are giving me a blunt answer. My question is this: Do the voters get a certain number of ballots or can they vote for any amount of people they want? I know, not a hard question but honestly, I am not too knowledgable on the actual voting process.

Each voter is mailed a ballot with ten spaces on it. In order to have his votes count, he must return the ballot by a certain deadline. The voter may vote for 0-10 candidates. Ballots are mailed along with corresponding material on the candidates.

[Paul Wendt]

The BBWAA writers get 10 votes, vote for 0 to 10. Need 75% for election. Those are the two constants since 1936, iirc.

Now the veterans committees (plural) members get 4 votes, vote for 0 to 4. Need 75% for election. Some past v.c. elections have used a different approach such as vote for any number but only the leading candidate may be elected; only two may be elected; etc.

If you search for BBWAA election rules at the museum website you may find the edition with out-of-date veterans committee rules attached. Here is the top page for current Veterans Committee(s) elections rules (http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/vetcom.jsp)

[henrich]

Each voter is mailed a ballot with ten spaces on it. In order to have his votes count, he must return the ballot by a certain deadline. The voter may vote for 0-10 candidates. Ballots are mailed along with corresponding material on the candidates.


I believe it is needed to be postmarked by Dec. 31st.

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

Thank-you all! This has been bugging me for some time.

[abolishthedh]

Does anyone have a ballpark figure on how large the BBWA voters collection happens to be? How about the Veterans Committee?

These groups are growing over time, I suppose, and a ballpark estimate would help us all understand and appreciate the percentages.

[Brad Harris]

The BBWAA writers get 10 votes, vote for 0 to 10. Need 75% for election. Those are the two constants since 1936, iirc.
As a matter of fact, the 75% is the only constant since 1936. From 1936-1956, voters were instructed to vote for ten candidates. Voters were not instructed to vote for up to ten candidates until the 1958 election.

Does anyone have a ballpark figure on how large the BBWA voters collection happens to be? How about the Veterans Committee?
There were 543 ballots cast in the 2008 BBWAA. 408 votes (75%) were needed to secure election. There were a handful of internet baseball writers who were extended voting privileges last winter; whether or not that implies they were also extended BBWAA membership is another question. BBWAA members must have 10-year seniority in order to qualify as an elector.

The various Veterans Committees are composed of the following:
Post-WWII Players Election - all living Hall of Famers
2009 composition: unannounced
Pre-WWII Players Election - 12 person committee chosen from among living Hall of Famers and "veteran media members and historians"
2009 composition: unannounced
Managers/Umpires Election - 16-person committee chosen from among living Hall of Famers and "executives and veteran media members"
2008 composition: Jim Bunning, Jim Frey, Bob Gibson, Roland Hemond, Fergie Jenkins, Al Kaline, Tim Kurkjian, Tommy Lasorda, Hal McCoy, Phil Niekro, Jack O'Connell, Tony Perez, Tom Verducci, Bob Watson, Earl Weaver and Billy Williams.
Executives/Pioneers Election - 12-person committee chosen from among living Hall of Famers and "executives and veteran media members"
2008 composition: Jerry Bell, Bobby Brown, Bill DeWitt, Bill Giles, David Glass, Paul Hagen, John Harrington, Rick Hummel, Monte Irvin, Harmon Killebrew, Andy MacPhail and Hal McCoy.
Members of all of these committees are appointed by the Board of Directors to renewable one-year terms. Jane Clark-Forbes, the Chairman of the Hall's Board of Directors (and granddaughter of founder Stephen C. Clark) serves as the non-voting Chairman and non-voting Secretary of each of these committees.

These are the 64 living members of the Hall of Fame:
Hank Aaron, Sparky Anderson, Luis Aparicio, Ernie Banks, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Lou Brock, Jim Bunning, Rod Carew, Steve Carlton, Gary Carter, Orlando Cepeda, Bobby Doerr, Dennis Eckersley, Bob Feller, Rollie Fingers, Carlton Fisk, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Goose Gossage, Tony Gwynn, Monte Irvin, Reggie Jackson, Fergie Jenkins, Al Kaline, George Kell, Harmon Killebrew, Ralph Kiner, Sandy Koufax, Tommy Lasorda, Lee MacPhail, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, Bill Mazeroski, Willie McCovey, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan, Eddie Murray, Stan Musial, Phil Niekro, Jim Palmer, Tony Perez, Gaylord Perry, Cal Ripken, Robin Roberts, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Nolan Ryan, Joe Morgan, Mike Schmidt, Red Schoendienst, Tom Seaver, Ozzie Smith, Duke Snider, Bruce Sutter, Don Sutton, Earl Weaver, Billy Williams, Dick Williams, Dave Winfield, Robin Yount and Carl Yastrzemski.

[Freakshow]

As a matter of fact, the 75% is the only constant since 1936. From 1936-1956, voters were instructed to vote for ten candidates. Voters were not instructed to vote for up to ten candidates until the 1958 election.
I've never heeard of this before. Have you checked if this is actually how the voters interpreted things - Was everyone really casting ten-man ballots?

[Brad Harris]

I've never heeard of this before. Have you checked if this is actually how the voters interpreted things - Was everyone really casting ten-man ballots?

Obviously (as with every election), all electors didn't comply fully with the instructions, but the point is that they were instructed to vote for ten. The cut-off date for which that changed is something I'm researching myself since I got that second-hand from another party, but I've independently confirmed, that beginning with 1936 and moving forward in time, at least the first several elections did, indeed, request voters to cast a ballot of ten names.

Ironically, I've uncovered where the first Veterans Committee election counted full (i.e. 10 name) ballots as counting as a half-vote each because they argued (after the ballots were submitted) that only five men were supposed to be elected. However, I've also read where the VC voters in '36 were instructed to vote for ten men and that the vote-halving scheme was to prevent too many men from being elected. I'm still working on this one, too. :laugh

No end to the mystery that is Hall of Fame elections.

[Paul Wendt]

Beside the newspapers,
some of Baseball Magazine (1908-1950) is on the web at AAFLA. They must have covered the early Hall of Fame history by news and editorial.

Sporting Life went out of business, second time, in the twenties.