Baseball HOF?

Question

OK, I have a couple of questions so...

1. Who votes people into the HOF?
2. What do they look for in players to enter the HOF?
3. How many people can enter the HOF in one year?
4. Lastly, Do players only have one chance to enter the HOF?

Best answer gets 10 points

Answer 1

1. The Baseball Writers Association of America votes for the priliminary list for the Hall Of Fame. The Veterans Committee votes for the list of players who fell off the original list after their 15 years of being on the ballot are up. On the primary ballot, a player has to earn 75% of the votes from the writers. The same goes for a player on the Veteran's ballot.
2. The writers look for statistical achievement, character, on-field and off-field contributions.
3. The max number out of the primary ballot is four people. There was a special election last year where several members of the ***** Leagues were inducted.
4. Again, if they fail to achieve induction from the primary ballot after 15 years, players have a second chance on the Veteran's Committee ballot. If they fail to get in that way, they are out of luck.

Answer 2

1. Who votes people into the HOF?

A select group of baseball writers do the voting. For induction your name needs to appear on at least 75% of the total ballots returned.

2. What do they look for in players to enter the HOF?

MLB players must have a minimum of ten seasons in the majors, show good character (no betting, for example) and be "dominant" during their career. Since each writer is allowed to vote independently, the criteria are more a guideline than a hard rule.

3. How many people can enter the HOF in one year?

Max of 13 by writers.
No limit on selections by veteran's committee.

4. Lastly, Do players only have one chance to enter the HOF?

Nope. Eligibility starts 5 years after retirement and continues as long as you get 5% of the vote for a max of 15 years.
If the writers don't put you in, the veteran committee can.

Answer 3

There are two ongoing electorates for Hall candidates, the qualified members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) and the Veterans Committee.

The writers are the primary college. Writers who have been BBWAA members in good standing for a minimum of ten consecutive years qualify for a ballot, along with some selection of major newspaper sports editors and senior columnists. (Some papers, the NY Times in particular, do not allow their writers to vote. I don't know why. Perhaps a very high ethical standard for reporting the news but not making the news.) Candidates named on 75% or more of the returned ballots (there are ten slots) are elected.

After a time, candidates pass to the purview of the Veterans Committee. The current configuration -- and the Hall snuck this out during HOF Weekend last month, so it really slid under the radar -- is all living Hall members, which currently numbers around 65-70 people. The 75% minimum from returned ballots is again the standard for election.

As well, the Hall can and has, from time to time, chartered special committees to identify and elect worthy honorees from classes of baseball people largely overlooked in history, in order to recognize that class while not compounding the mission of the BBWAA or VC ballots.

There are defined criteria and guidelines for the writers, but the basic concept is "outstanding contributions to baseball and great achievement". For players, this can be winnowed down to the guys who really made a difference on the field. ("Greatness" can be expounded upon at tedious length, and I don't want to do that here.)

There are no defined limits, minimum or maximum, upon the inductee class in a given year. The 2006 class had 18 people -- Bruce Sutter, elected by the BBWAA, and 17 olde-tyme players and executives/owners from the ***** League era, and even some from before then. That was a record size class, boosted by virtue of the results of a special committee vote (as mentioned earlier). (As a practical matter, the BBWAA ballots only have ten slots, and 75% is needed for election, so the math doesn't allow more than 13 candidates to gain induction, but this ceiling has never been reached. And to be fair, there is a real minimum, zero, but that is not a very interesting response.)

Players have two chances methodically, and many chances chronologically. The writers get first crack, and a player can remain on that ballot for up to 15 years -- as long as his annual return is 5% of the vote or more (or, in fact, he gets elected), he remains eligible for the following ballot. Steve Garvey just dropped off this year, after a decade and a half of futility. After a player's BBWAA eligibility has expired, he becomes eligible for VC consideration after some, rather short, delay (maybe one year; it used to be three but I know that was discarded, but am unsure in favor of what). The method by which the VC ballot is constituted was also recently revamped, and I am not yet familiar with the specifics. There is no meaningful expiration of VC consideration since the ballot is completely reconstituted every voting cycle.

Answer 4

1. Anyone who has been a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America for 10 years can be a voting member of the Hall of Fame. There is also a veterans commitee that votes in old guys who have been passed over.
2. The criteria is based on excellence on the field and character and sportsmanship. Usually, the excellence on the field part is most important and this means a long career too. Most voters value grand career totals more than they value short but brilliant stints.
3. There is no limit on how many can enter, but each voter can only vote for 10 players and to be elected you need 75% of the vote. So, the theoretical limit would be 13 players in a year with each getting just over 75% of the votes. There have never been more than 5 elected by the baseball writers and that happened in the innaugural class of 1936 with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.
4. No - managers, owners, commissioners and others who have contributed to the game can be elected but by a special committee and not by the baseball writers. There is also a part of the hall of fame for writers and broadcasters that is voted on by a special committee.

Answer 5

1. The Baseball Writers Association of America. You have to get votes on 75% of the ballots to get in. Each voter can vote for multiple people.
2. Typically, a good way to judge is whether the player was the best at his position in his league during his era.
3. I don't think there's a limit.
4. No, you are first eligible five years after you retire, I think you can be on the ballot for ten years after that.

There's also a veteran's committee to evaluate players who don't get elected by the writers.

The HOF website will explain it all for you.

Answer 6

1 Hall members and writers vote
2 If they are worthy by stats
3 As long as you get 75% of the vote you are in
4 Players have to get 5% of the vote to stay on the ballot and they stay for 15 years on the ballot I believe

Answer 7

Who knows