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Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1946 |
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Athletes - Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1946 |
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The 1946 elections to select inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame marked a dramatic revision of the methods used one year earlier. The continuing failure to elect modern players led to changes in the ballot process, and forced a re-thinking of the role of the Old-Timers Committee.The BBWAA electionBecause the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) had failed to elect any candidates in 1945, and had elected only one player since 1939, the previous delay of three years between elections had been eliminated in September 1945 by the Hall of Fame Committee, and annual elections restored. In response to the high number of candidates drawing votes in the 1945 election, a 2-step ballot process was created to narrow the field for a final vote. The first ballot would proceed in the same manner as previous elections, with voters free to name any 10 candidates. However, there would be no possibility of any inductees being elected in this vote; instead, the top 20 candidates would proceed to a final ballot. In order for any candidate to be elected, at least 200 ballots would have to be cast in each phase of the election.In addition to the field being narrowed in this manner, it was hoped that the absence of several previously popular candidates would clear the way for others; the 10 players elected by the Old-Timers Committee in 1945 had received 26% of the vote in the last BBWAA election, and had included 7 of the top 16 candidates. It was hoped that the revised approach and reduced field of candidates would result in up to 5 new members of the Hall annually. The nominating stageMembers of the BBWAA again had the authority to select any players active in the 20th century (after 1900), provided they had not appeared in a major league game in 1945. Voters were instructed to cast votes for 10 candidates. The top 20 candidates would advance to the final ballot, but the vote totals from the first ballot would not be revealed until the second election was over.In addition, the Hall of Fame Committee had instituted a set of criteria for the voters to observe in completing their ballot; for each candidate, they were to take into consideration: #playing ability #integrity #sportsmanship #character #contribution to the team on which they played and to baseball in general. A total of 202 ballots were cast, with 1948 individual votes for 76 specific candidates; due to a tie for 20th place, the top 21 candidates (those who had received 39 or more votes) were announced on January 3, 1946, and advanced to the final ballot. Even following the previous year's election of several players from that era, the emphasis on the stars of the 1900s and 1910s - who many voters felt should be given priority - was again evident, although not quite at the levels seen previously. Only 5 of the top 14 candidates in the voting, and none of the top 5, had seen any substantial play since 1917; only 2 of the top 26, and none of the top 19, had played their final season anytime between 1918 and 1933. Players who had been retired over 28 years - 35 of the 76 named - received 53% of the votes. No player received 75% of the vote in this stage; even if the rules had allowed a selection at this point, none would have occurred. Individuals who were barred from baseball were still not officially ineligible. Shoeless Joe Jackson received 2 votes; this was the first time since 1937 that anyone who had been thrown out of baseball had received any votes, and it would be the last time any such candidate received any recognized votes. Candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics:
[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1946 ] Some related entries: Bob Armstrong | Jim Haslett | Ray Felix | Eddie Eagan | Jonathan Spector | Marshall Faulk | Gary Beban | Cliff Battles | Jim Konstanty | Singor Mobley | Clarence Davis This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1946; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL. | Searches on eBay
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