2013 Hall of Fame Election

[edit] BBWAA Voting

The results of the 2013 Hall of Fame Election were announced on January 9, 2013. For only the second time since since 1971 - the other coming in 1996, no candidate was elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The top vote getter was Craig Biggio who received 68.2% of the vote in his first year of eligibility; second was Jack Morris, who received 67,7% of the vote in his penultimate year of eligibility. A candidate required being named on 75% of the ballots to be elected.

This year's ballot was dubbed by many writers as the "steroid" ballot, given that four prominent first-time candidates had been linked to the steroid scandals of the late 1990s and early 2000s: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza. They joined holdovers Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, whose accomplishments were also tainted by steroid use, and who failed to receive significant support in their first few appearances on the ballot. Barring the taint of steroids, this would have been one of the strongest first-year classes on record, but circumstances meant that all four candidates were a long shot to be voted in at this point, as was confirmed by results, where Piazza - against whom allegations were never more than rumors - getting the most votes among the group with 57.8%, enough to finish fourth. It was an occasion for a host of writers turning in articles before the vote on what they felt the steroid era had meant for baseball and for its records, with a clear majority of writers indicating gthat they had no intention to vote for the tainted players. Again, this was clearly reflected in the voting results.

[edit] Veterans Committee

The Veterans Committee examined candidates from the pre-integration era of 1871-1947. This was the third year of the new rotating eras format. The results of the vote were announced at the annual winter meetings in Nashville, TN on December 3, 2012. 16 ballots were cast with 12 being needed for election. If a candidate received fewer than 3 votes, his true total was not disclosed. The committee was made up of sixteen members: 4 Hall of Famers (Bert Blyleven, Pat Gillick, Phil Niekro and Don Sutton), 4 executives (Bill DeWitt, Roland Hemond, Gary Hughes and Bob Watson) and 8 media members/historians (Jim Henneman, Steve Hirdt, Peter Morris, Phil Pepe, Tom Simon, Claire Smith, T.R. Sullivan and Mark Whicker).

[edit] Induction

The 2013 Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for July 28, 2013 in Cooperstown, NY. The three persons elected from the Veterans Committee ballot will be inducted in a ceremony that day. Other honorees, including Paul Hagen, the winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for writers, and Tom Cheek, winner of the Ford Frick Award for broadcasters, will also be honored on July 27th, also in Cooperstown. Four of the five will be honored posthumously, with Hagen the lone exception.

[edit] Further Reading

• Barry M. Bloom: "Biggio tops vote but no one elected to Hall", mlb.com, January 9, 2013 [1]
• Christine Brennan: "Brennan: Hall of Fame for Bonds, Clemens, Sosa? Really?", USA Today, November 28, 2012 [2]
• Gabe Lacques: "Hall of Fame ballot: The facts and whispers on PEDs", USA Today, November 29, 2012 [3]

[edit] Related Sites

• Article from mlb.com on finalists for the Veterans Committee Ballot
• "Ruppert, O'Day, White elected to baseball Hall", USA Today