clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Hall Of Fame 'Expansion Era' Ballot Released

In addition to the players who will be up for consideration by the BBWAA for the Hall, a committee will consider players who have been passed over, plus non-playing personnel, for 2014 induction.

By Al Yellon
Jim McIsaac

The Hall of Fame could have quite a few inductees next summer -- something the Hall surely wants after having all three of last summer's inductees being men who had been dead for more than 75 years.

The BBWAA will get its chance on recently-retired players in a vote that will be announced in January. There is also a committee charged with considering players from the expansion era (1973 to the present), as well as non-playing personnel; there are 12 finalists:

Dave Concepcion, Bobby Cox, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Tony La Russa, Billy Martin, Marvin Miller, Dave Parker, Dan Quisenberry, Ted Simmons, George Steinbrenner, Joe Torre are the candidates that will be considered by the electorate. Any candidate who earns votes on 75% of ballots cast will earn election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted on Sunday, July 27, 2014 in Cooperstown, N.Y. Results of the Expansion Era vote will be announced on Monday, December 9 at 10 a.m. ET from the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla.

And who are the individuals charged with voting on these candidates? There are 16 people in all who will do this voting; 12 votes is needed for election (same as for Ron Santo's induction two years ago):

The 16-member Hall of Fame Board-appointed electorate charged with the review of the Expansion Era ballot features: Hall of Fame members Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Whitey Herzog, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor, Phil Niekro and Frank Robinson; major league executives Paul Beeston (Blue Jays), Andy MacPhail, Dave Montgomery (Phillies) and Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox); and historians Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Bruce Jenkins (San Francisco Chronicle), Jack O’Connell (BBWAA) and Jim Reeves (retired, Fort Worth Star-Telegram).

Given who is on this committee, it seems likely that quite a few of the nominees will be elected. If it were up to me, I'd vote for Tommy John, Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Marvin Miller.

Again, since the polling feature of this site allows you to vote for just one candidate, vote for the one individual among the 12 you would most like to see inducted into the Hall of Fame. For me, if I had to pick just one: Tommy John. John's career numbers are pretty close to Hall-worthy in and of themselves, and given that he's the pioneer in the elbow surgery now named after him, to me, that qualifies him for the "Fame" part. You can weigh in, of course, in the comments.

Next Up In MLB news