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Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2009
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The elections to select the 2009 class of inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame will proceed according to revised rules enacted in 2001 and further revamped in 2007. The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) will hold an election to select from among recent players. In keeping with the 2007 rules changes, the Veterans Committee will hold an election for players who were active in the years 1943 to 1987, but not before or after that period. An election to select from among players who were active prior to 1943 will be conducted by a committee of 12 Hall of Famers, writers, and baseball historians, to be chosen by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors. An election to select managers, umpires and executives was held for the 2008 inductions; the next such election will be held prior to the 2010 inductions.
The induction ceremonies will be held on July 26, 2009 in Cooperstown, with Commissioner Bud Selig presiding.
BBWAA electionThe BBWAA will again be authorized to elect players active in 1989 or later, but not after 2003; the ballot, expected to be announced in November 2008, will include candidates from the 2008 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 2003. All 10-year members of the BBWAA will be eligible to vote.
Voters will be instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate who receives votes on at least 75% of the ballots will be honored with induction to the Hall. Results of the 2009 election by the BBWAA will be announced in January. Those candidates who receive less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.
There will be 13 candidates returning from the 2008 ballot; Tommy John and Jim Rice will be on the ballot for the 15th and final time:
The newly-eligible candidates will include 22 All-Stars, who were selected a combined total of 58 times – a slight increase from 2008, when 17 All-Stars who had been selected a total of 43 times became eligible. Rickey Henderson, a 10-time All-Star, will be the only new candidate who was selected more than five times.
In addition to Henderson, players eligible for the first time are: Steve Avery, Jay Bell, Jason Bere, Mike Bordick, John Burkett, David Cone, Omar Daal, Ron Gant, Joe Girardi, Mark Grace, Mark Guthrie, Joey Hamilton, Bill Haselman, Darren Holmes, Trenidad Hubbard, Todd Hundley, Brian L. Hunter, Félix José, Chad Kreuter, Graeme Lloyd, Keith Lockhart, Albie Lopez, Pat Mahomes, Al Martin, Orlando Merced, Charles Nagy, Denny Neagle, Troy O'Leary, Jesse Orosco, Lance Painter, Dean Palmer, Craig Paquette, Dan Plesac, Tom Prince, Jeff Reboulet, Rick Reed, Rich Rodriguez, Terry Shumpert, Luis Sojo, Greg Vaughn, Mo Vaughn, Dave Veres, Matt Walbeck, Matt Williams, Mike Williams and Kevin Young.
Veterans Committee1943 and laterRules for election by the Veterans Committee were revised in July 2007 following complaints that the three elections conducted under the previous format (in 2003, 2005 and 2007) had resulted in no selections. After the February 2007 election, Bud Selig expressed frustration over the ongoing difficulties, and voiced his support for a revision of the process. Under the revised format, a Historical Overview Committee composed of sportswriters appointed by the BBWAA's Board of Directors will meet in spring 2008 to develop a ballot of 20 former players active between 1943 and 1987. A six-member panel of Hall of Famers will also meet to independently select five players for consideration; these lists will be merged to create a preliminary ballot of 20 to 25 names. Following the elections of 2003 through 2007, when the voting membership of the Veterans Committee included not only the living members of the Hall but also recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award and J. G. Taylor Spink Award, voting will now be limited to Hall members; they will meet at the Hall during induction weekend in 2008, and will reduce the ballot to 10 names. This final ballot will then be sent to the 64 living members, and they will vote by mail, casting votes for up to four candidates each. Any candidate receiving votes on 75% of ballots will be inducted to the Hall; a maximum of five inductees is possible.
The players who were on the 2007 ballot who will be eligible for consideration are: Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Curt Flood, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Mickey Lolich, Sparky Lyle, Roger Maris, Minnie Miñoso, Thurman Munson, Don Newcombe, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre and Maury Wills. Of these, three (Hodges, Miñoso and Newcombe) began their careers in the 1940s, seven in the 1950s (all in 1955 or later) and ten in the 1960s.
Among the other possible candidates who reached the major leagues between 1943 and 1954 are Billy Pierce, perhaps the American League's top pitcher in the mid-1950s, Roy Face, the National League's first great reliever, and Dick Groat, a solid-hitting shortstop who was the NL's MVP in 1960.
Among the players who will be eligible for the first time are: Dusty Baker, Vida Blue, Ron Cey, Cecil Cooper, George Foster, Steve Garvey, Bobby Grich, Dave Kingman, Davey Lopes and Bill Madlock.
In addition to improving on the fruitless outcome of the previous three elections for players, there could be particular urgency in the 2009 vote resulting in the selection of one or more new members, as in 2011 a large group of potentially popular candidates will become eligible – possibly further diluting the support for any single candidate. Those becoming eligible in 2011 will include Buddy Bell, Dave Concepción, Ron Guidry, Tommy John, Graig Nettles, Ted Simmons, and potentially Jim Rice (if he is not selected in the 2009 BBWAA vote); another sizable group of potentially popular candidates, including Dwight Evans, Keith Hernandez, Fred Lynn, Dave Parker and Dan Quisenberry, will become eligible in 2013.
Pre-1943For the first time, a separate election will be held for players whose major league careers began before 1943; these elections are scheduled to occur every five years. The election will be conducted at the December 2008 winter meetings, among a committee of twelve Hall members, members of the media and historians; votes by proxy will be allowed only in emergencies. The committee will also be allowed to elect candidates who played in the Negro leagues prior to 1946, as long as their time in the Negro leagues and major leagues totals at least ten seasons; this would seem to include players such as Minnie Miñoso (who debuted with the New York Cubans in 1945) and Don Newcombe (who debuted with the Newark Eagles in 1944), even if they did not appear in the Negro leagues until after 1943. The Historical Overview Committee of the BBWAA will select 10 candidates to appear on the ballot, with votes from 75% of the committee necessary for election; each committee member can vote for up to four candidates, allowing for a maximum of five selections. Negro league first baseman Buck O'Neil, whose playing career began in 1937, could be included on this ballot; however, if it is believed that his contributions to baseball after his playing career ended outweigh his playing accomplishments, he could be instead considered in the election for non-players in 2010. The rules state that "Those whose careers entailed involvement as both players and managers/executives/umpires will be considered for their overall contribution to the game of Baseball; however, the specific category in which such individuals shall be considered will be determined by the role in which they were most prominent. In those instances when a candidate is prominent as both a player and as a manager, executive or umpire, the BBWAA Screening Committee shall determine that individual's candidacy as either a player (Players Ballot), or as a manager, umpires, executive or pioneer (Managers/Umpires Ballot, or Executives/Pioneers Ballot)."
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