Internet Baseball Writers Veterans Committee Selects Marvin Miller In Hall Of Fame Vote

As many of you know, I'm a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA). This past fall, the IBWAA formed a Veterans Committee to consider baseball personalities who had not yet been honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Members of the 20-person committee submitted nominations and voting was done by email ballot during the month of December, with 75 percent of the vote (16 votes) needed to be honored.

Longtime baseball labor leader Marvin Miller was the only person so honored by the Veterans Committee in its initial vote. Here's how the vote went, with a complete list of those nominated who received votes:

Marvin Miller: 16 votes (80 percent)
Barry Larkin: 14 votes (70 percent)
Minnie Minoso: 12 votes (60 percent)
John Schuerholz: 10 votes (50 percent)
George Steinbrenner: 10 votes (50 percent)
Dick Allen: 9 votes (45 percent)
Gil Hodges: 9 votes (45 percent)
Lou Whitaker: 9 votes (45 percent)
Steve Garvey: 7 votes (35 percent)
Tommy John: 7 votes (35 percent)
Dwight Evans: 6 votes (30 percent)
Tony Oliva: 6 votes (30 percent)
Maury Wills: 6 votes (30 percent)
Buzzie Bavasi: 5 votes (25 percent)
Jim Kaat: 5 votes (25 percent)
Dale Murphy: 5 votes (25 percent)
Bobby Grich: 4 votes (20 percent)
Ted Simmons: 4 votes (20 percent)
Don Mattingly: 2 votes (10 percent)
Vada Pinson: 2 votes (10 percent)

Barry Larkin, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012, never received the requisite 75 percent on any IBWAA ballot, and was nominated by one or more members of this panel, but was not selected. Rusty Staub was also nominated, but received no votes.

My votes went to: Hodges, John, Kaat, Miller, Minoso, Schuerholz and Simmons. I hope that one day, the Hall in Cooperstown will see fit to honor Marvin Miller, who is one of the most significant figures in baseball history.

The IBWAA Veterans Committee is: Barry Bloom, Jim Bowden, Craig Calcaterra, Jim Caple, Kavitha Davidson, Stacey Gotsulias, Tom Hoffarth, Will Leitch, Ross Newhan, Harry Pavlidis, Dayn Perry, Tracy Ringolsby, Miriam Romain, John Rosengren, Eno Sarris, David Schoenfield, Ted Schwerzler, Jesse Spector, Wendy Thurm and me. We all are serving two-year terms in this initial incarnation of the committee.

The IBWAA will also announce Hall of Fame voting for the regular ballot, Wednesday afternoon. I'll post those results along with the BBWAA voting which will also be released tomorrow.

More about the IBWAA: The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.

In 2010, the IBWAA began voting in its own relief pitcher category, establishing the Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year and the Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Awards.

Among approximately 400 others, IBWAA members include Mark A. Simon of ESPN.com; Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Bill Chuck, GammonsDaily.com; Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News; J.P. Hoornstra, Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Orange County Register and Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com.