Hall of Fame Balloting

by OSUmets on Jan 26, 2009 3:11 PM EST

I know I'm about a week late on the Hall of Fame conversation, but my question has nothing to do with the guys that got elected in. My question has to do with who was actually on the ballot. Is there any criteria for being put on the HOF ballot, and who decides who should be on it in the first place? I was surfing over at baseball-reference.com and they have the whole ballot posted on their homepage. Guys like Ron Gant, Jay Bell, Greg Vaughn, and Dan Plesac were all very good Major League players, but worthy of HOF consideration? All of them were on the ballot (albeit none of them received the required 5% of the vote to remain on next year's ballot, or any votes for that matter), but how did they get on there? How does a guy like Jay Bell get on the ballot despite a career BA of .265, 195 career home runs, and never finishing higher than 12th in the MVP voting?

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Basically

Play more than 10 years, be retired for 5, and don’t be terrible. The BBWAA rules are here:

http://www.baseballwriters.org/HOF_rules.html

'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jan 26, 2009 3:12 PM EST reply actions

Correction

I meant to say play at least 10 years, not more than 10 years.

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jan 26, 2009 3:18 PM EST up reply actions

there it is

“…are eligible for the first time and are nominated by any two of the six members of the BBWAA Screening Committee.”

got it now…thanks. i knew if i asked here i’d get an answer

"You know I am only teasing. I love you gals out there -- always have." - Keith Hernandez

by OSUmets on Jan 26, 2009 3:33 PM EST up reply actions

I've got no problem with those guys being on the ballot

it’s probably a pretty cool honor, even if you don’t get a single vote. And as long as they’re not actually getting votes, it’s harmless.

by cjmulrain on Jan 26, 2009 5:20 PM EST reply actions

Has anyone never gotten a single vote?

It seems pretty unlikely, since there’s always at least one local writer who gives a symbolic vote for a player he liked. Wikipedia doesn’t seem to keep a list of the tallies; does anyone know if there’s a site that does?

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jan 26, 2009 10:03 PM EST up reply actions

Plenty of guys get no votes

This year, Greg Vaughan, Dan Plesac and Ron Gant got zeroes. The Hall of Fame has voting results back to 1936 here

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jan 26, 2009 10:50 PM EST up reply actions

Of course I never bothered to check the most obvious source.

Thank you. That is really interesting. Surprising how many future HOFers only got 1 vote some years.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jan 26, 2009 11:51 PM EST up reply actions

No Votes

Here’s a list of every player since 1978 who didn’t get a single vote for the HoF

From Agee to Zisk.

by Eamus J Catuli on Jan 28, 2009 1:42 AM EST up reply actions

It's kind of disappointing, as a Mets fan, that Agee didn't get a single vote

If Bill Mazeroski got into the Hall of Fame largely because of a single dramatic postseason home run, doesn’t Agee deserve at least a single vote for his two fabulous catches in the 1969 Series?

(sigh, I guess Agee really did only play eight full seasons and was on the borderline as far as even getting onto the ballot in the first place, but still.)

by JoshNY on Jan 28, 2009 12:17 PM EST up reply actions

Pedro Gomez, AKA Barry Bonds's stalker

voted for Jay Bell

by James Kannengieser on Jan 26, 2009 8:18 PM EST reply actions

A guy like Jay Bell at least deserves a fair shot at voting

He was an above-average shortstop for a long time. Give him his little taste of honor. (Just don’t actually vote him in.)

by psiogen on Jan 28, 2009 11:51 AM EST reply actions

book plug

I feel like I end up shilling for this book a lot, but let me put in one more plug for Bill James’s old book on the Hall, The Politics of Glory. Anyone who’s interested in this discussion or the whole weird process of Hall voting should find a lot of material for reflection there.

by anonymous on Jan 28, 2009 4:42 PM EST reply actions