Hall of Fame Embarks On Selection of Inductees For the July Induction Ceremony
From the offices of the Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame will take the first steps toward Induction Weekend 2023 this weekend in San Diego, as the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee considers a ballot of eight players for Hall of Fame election.
Results of the vote will be announced by Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch at 6 p.m. MT on Sunday live on MLB Network’s MLB Tonight.
Any electees to emerge from the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee balloting will be honored during Hall of Fame Weekend 2023, July 21-24 in Cooperstown. The 2023 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. ET on July 23.
If any electees emerge from the voting, Zoom calls with each individual electee are expected to be held Sunday evening.
THE CONTEMPORARY BASEBALL ERA PLAYERS BALLOT
Eight former players were named Nov. 7 to the Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Players Ballot
The eight finalists include: Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling.
The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee considers candidates whose primary contribution to the game came from 1980 through the present. All eight candidates are living.
Any candidate who receives votes on 75 percent of the ballots cast by the 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Committee will be elected and enshrined as part of the Class of 2023.
THE CONTEMPORARY BASEBALL ERA ELECTORATE
The 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Committee electorate features Hall of Fame members Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas and Alan Trammell; major league executives Paul Beeston, Theo Epstein, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Dave St. Peter and Ken Williams; and veteran media members/historians Steve Hirdt, LaVelle Neal and Susan Slusser.
Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark will serve as the non-voting Chairman of the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.
The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee players ballot was devised by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America-appointed Historical Overview Committee, comprised of 11 veteran members: Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network); Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun); Steve Hirdt (Stats Perform); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); David O’Brien (The Athletic); Jack O’Connell (BBWAA); Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram); Tracy Ringolsby (InsideTheSeams.com); Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle); Susan Slusser (San Francisco Chronicle); and Mark Whicker (Southern California News Group).The HOC annually sets ballots for the Era Committee elections.
WHO’S ELIGIBLE
The Contemporary Baseball Era players ballot covers candidates whose most significant career impact was realized from 1980 through the present. Eligible candidates include: Players who played in at least 10 major league seasons who have been retired for at least 15 years and who are not on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list.
The Contemporary Baseball Era will split into two separate ballots – one ballot to consider only players who made their greatest impact on the game since 1980, and another composite ballot consisting of managers, executives and umpires whose greatest contributions to the game have come since 1980.
Each of these three Era Committees – the Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot, the Contemporary Baseball Era non-player ballot, and the Classic Baseball Era composite ballot – will rotate on an annual basis, and each ballot will consist of eight candidates.
Effective beginning in January 2023, eligible players must have been retired for 16 or more seasons, equal to a one-year waiting period following their final potential year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot.
Eras considered for yearly election are as follows:
— December 2022 (for Class of 2023) – Contemporary Baseball/Players;
— December 2023 (for Class of 2024) – Contemporary Baseball/Managers-Umpires-Executives;
— December 2024 (for Class of 2025) – Classic Baseball.
This cycle will repeat every three years, with Contemporary Baseball/Players eligible for consideration again in December 2025 for the Class of 2026.
HISTORY OF THE VETERANS COMMITTEE
The Veterans Committee/Eras Committee has been a part of the Hall of Fame voting process since the first class of electees in 1936, with the first Veterans Committee electees coming in 1937…In all its forms, the Veterans Committee/Eras Committee has elected 179 individuals (105 major leaguers, 33 executives, 22 managers, nine Negro Leaguers and 10 umpires) to the Hall of Fame.
THE COMMITTEE ON BASEBALL VETERANS
In 1953, the Baseball Hall of Fame Committee on Baseball Veterans was formed, outlining parameters that were similar through 2001, though with some variance throughout its time. Voting was conducted every other year from 1953-1959, with annual votes from 1961 until 2001. From 1961 through 2001, the Committee elected 101 members in 41 meetings, electing a candidate on all but three occasions: 1988, 1990 and 1993.
TURN OF THE CENTURY CHANGES
From 2001 through 2007, the Hall of Fame’s Committee on Baseball Veterans considered long-retired players, managers, umpires and executives on a bi-annual cycle featuring one ballot for players and another for managers, umpires and executives. The electorate was comprised of the living members of the Hall of Fame, the living recipients of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, the living recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award and Veterans Committee members whose terms had not yet expired.
Beginning in 2003, the Committee held its election of players every other year. Also beginning in 2003, the election of managers, umpires and executives was held every four years. The three players elections (2003, 2005 and 2007) and the two compositeballot elections (2003 and 2007) produced no candidates who received the 75 percent of the vote necessary for election.
REVAMPING THE PROCESS
From 2007 to 2010, the Hall of Fame’s Committee on Baseball Veterans was revamped to consider managers and umpires on one ballot, executives and pioneers on one ballot, players who began their big league careers prior to 1943 on one ballot and players who were retired for at least 21 seasons and whose careers began after 1942 on a fourth ballot.
The electorates consisted of panels of Hall of Famers, executives and media members.
Players whose big league careers began after 1942 were considered every other year, with the managers/umpires and executive pioneers ballots considered in the opposite years from the players.
Players whose big league careers began prior to 1943 were considered every five years starting in the fall of 2008.
In the fall of 2007, the Committee considered the managers/umpires ballot and the executives/pioneers ballot. Managers Billy Southworth and Dick Williams each received 13 of a possible 16 votes (81.3%) to earn election from the managers/umpires ballot, while Barney Dreyfuss (10 of 12 votes, 83%), Bowie Kuhn (10 of 12 votes, 83%) and Walter O’Malley (9 of 12 votes, 75%) were elected from the executives/pioneers ballot.
In the fall of 2008, Joe Gordon received 10 of 12 votes (83%) to earn election from the pre-1943 players ballot. No player reached the 75 percent threshold needed for election on the post-1942 players ballot.
In the fall of 2009, the managers/umpires and the executives/pioneers ballots were again considered…Umpire Doug Harvey (15 of 16 votes, 93.8%) and manager Whitey Herzog (14 of 16 votes, 87.5%) were elected from the managers/umpires ballot. No candidate received the necessary 75 percent of the vote to earn election from the executives/pioneers ballot.
A NEW ERA
From 2011-15, the Veterans Committee transitioned to the Eras Committee, which featured three candidate categories based on the era in which the candidate left his or her most indelible mark. The Expansion Era Committee, the Golden Era Committee and the Pre-Integration Era Committee met on a three-year rotating basis, with two complete cycles of the committee votes held from 2011-15.
The Expansion Era Committee elected executive Pat Gillick to the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2011 in its first session, then elected managers Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre to the Class of 2014.
The Golden Era Committee elected Ron Santo as part of the Class of 2012, with no Golden Era candidates receiving the necessary 75 percent of the vote to be elected with the Class of 2015.
The Pre-Integration Era Committee elected umpire Hank O’Day, executive Jacob Ruppert and third baseman Deacon White to the Class of 2013, with no Pre-Integration Era candidates reaching the 75-percent mark needed to be included with the Class of 2016.
FOUR FOR ALL
In 2016, the Hall of Fame Board of Directors revamped the eras committees, placing a much greater emphasis on modern eras. Additionally, those major league players, managers, umpires and executives who excelled before 1950, as well as Negro Leagues stars, still had an opportunity to have their careers reviewed, but with less frequency.
Four eras for committee consideration were identified:
— Today’s Game (for candidates who made their most indelible contribution to baseball from 1988 to the present).
— Modern Baseball (for candidates who made their most indelible contribution to baseball from 1970 to 1987).
— Golden Days (for candidates who made their most indelible contribution to baseball from 1950 to 1969).
— And Early Baseball (for candidates who made their most indelible contribution to baseball prior to 1950).
VETERAN INFLUENCE
The Veterans Committee, in all its forms, has been electing players to the Hall of Fame since 1937, when Morgan Bulkeley, Ban Johnson, Connie Mack, John McGraw and George Wright comprised the first Veterans Committee class.
The largest class came in 1946 when 11 men were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee…The 11 electees in 1946 were: Jesse Burkett, Frank Chance, Jack Chesbro, Johnny Evers, Clark Griffith, Tommy McCarthy, Joe McGinnity, Eddie Plank, Joe Tinker, Rube Waddell and Ed Walsh.
The 17 former Negro league players and executives chosen for enshrinement in 2006 were elected through a special committee on Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues candidates.
FRICK AND BBWAA CAREER EXCELLENCE AWARD FINALISTS IN SPOTLIGHT
Following the Frick Award voting restructuring announced by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Board of Directors in April, a new election cycle has been established, with a composite ballot featuring local and national voices whose careers began after, or extended into, the Wild Card Era in four consecutive years, followed by a fifth year featuring a ballot of candidates whose broadcasting careers concluded prior to the advent of the Wild Card Era in 1994.
The new cycle will begin with the 2023 Frick Award, with composite ballots of local and national voices continuing with the Awards in 2024, 2025 and 2026 before the pre-Wild Card Era ballot is considered for the 2027 Award. The cycle then repeats every five years.
The finalists for the 2023 Frick Award are: Dave Campbell, Joe Castiglione, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Jerry Howarth, Pat Hughes, Ernie Johnson Sr., Duane Kuiper and Steve Stone.
The 2023 Frick Award winner will be honored at the Awards Presentation on July 22, 2023, in Cooperstown as part of Hall of Fame Weekend.
Criteria for selection is as follows:
“Commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting abilities, reverence within the game, popularity with fans, and recognition by peers.”
Final voting for the 2023 Frick Award will be conducted by an electorate comprised of the 12 living Frick Award recipients and three broadcast historians/columnists, including past Frick honorees Marty Brennaman, Bob Costas, Ken Harrelson, Jaime Jarrín, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Tim McCarver, Al Michaels, Jon Miller, Eric Nadel, Bob Uecker and Dave Van Horne, and historians/columnists David J. Halberstam (historian), Barry Horn (formerly of the Dallas Morning News) and Curt Smith (historian).
The results of the voting for the 2023 Frick Award will be announced on Dec. 7.
The 2023 Frick Award ballot was created by a subcommittee of the voting electorate that included Brennaman, Harrelson, Nadel, Halberstam and Smith. To be considered, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network, or a combination of the two.
For bios on the eight candidates, please visit baseballhall.org/frickaward2023.
FRICK AWARD HISTORY
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ford C. Frick Award has been presented annually since 1978 by the Museum for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Annual winners are announced as part of Baseball’s Winter Meetings each year, while awardees are presented with their honor the following summer during Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown, New York. Jack Graney became the 46 th winner of the Frick Award in 2022. 2023
BBWAA CAREER EXCELLENCE AWARD FINALISTS
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America has announced its three finalists for the 2023 BBWAA Career Excellence Award.
The finalists are:
— The late Gerry Fraley, who spent three decades covering baseball and the Texas Rangers for the Dallas Morning News;
— Bruce Jenkins, writer and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle;
And longtime Detroit Free Press beat writer John Lowe.
The winner of the 2023 BBWAA Career Excellence Award for writers will be announced Dec. 6.
SCRIBES AND MIKEMEN
Winners of the Frick and BBWAA Career Excellence Awards are featured in the Museum’s Scribes and Mikemen exhibit, located on the first floor as part of the Library and Education Center of the Hall of Fame.
Text of the award given to the current year’s award winner and photos of past award winners are featured in the exhibit, which outlines the media’s contributions to the game’s history.