1949 Hall of Fame Election

The first ballot in the 1949 Hall of Fame Election did not produce an electee, so there was a run-off and the top vote getter, Charlie Gehringer, was elected. Again, there was no shortage of qualified candidates, but Baseball Writers were not voting on a formal ballot, but writing in names they felt were qualified, which led to a scattering of support among a large number of candidates, as well as a large number of players receiving a handful of votes. The run-off ballot, comprising 20 names, was again too large to result in a more focussed vote. All 20 of the names who made it to that second ballot would eventually get elected, an indication that the problem was not the lack of worthwhile candidates, but a voting system that was not working properly.

For the first time since 1946, the Old Timers Committee elected two members as well. This time, it stuck to its mandate and voted in two true old-timers, 19th century pitcher Kid Nichols and 1900s pitching star Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown. These were both very good choices that indicated that the Committee was back on track.

Nominating Ballot

Player	Votes	Result
Charlie Gehringer	102	Nominated
Mel Ott	94	Nominated
Al Simmons	89	Nominated
Dizzy Dean	88	Nominated
Jimmie Foxx	85	Nominated
Bill Terry	81	Nominated
Paul Waner	73	Nominated
Hank Greenberg	67	Nominated
Bill Dickey	65	Nominated
Harry Heilmann	59	Nominated
Rabbit Maranville	58	Nominated
Gabby Hartnett	35	Nominated
Dazzy Vance	33	Nominated
Joe Cronin	33	Nominated
Ted Lyons	29	Nominated
Ray Schalk	24	Nominated
Hack Wilson	24	Nominated
Red Ruffing	22	Nominated
Tony Lazzeri	20	Nominated
Ross Youngs	20	Nominated
Lefty Gomez	17
Pepper Martin	16
Zack Wheat	15
Edd Roush	14
Max Carey	12
Bucky Harris	11
Charlie Grimm	10
Hank Gowdy	10
Chuck Klein	9
Burleigh Grimes	8
Stuffy McInnis	8
Jim Bottomley	8
Waite Hoyt	7
Jimmy Dykes	7
Billy Southworth	7
Steve O'Neill	6
Red Faber	6
Jimmie Wilson	6
Travis Jackson	6
Earle Combs	6
Dave Bancroft	5
Babe Adams	5
Babe Herman	5
Stan Hack	4
Lefty O'Doul	4
Wilbur Cooper	4
Kiki Cuyler	4
Rube Marquard	4
Eppa Rixey	4
Goose Goslin	4
Mel Harder	4
Casey Stengel	3
Stan Coveleski	3
Lloyd Waner	3
Sam Rice	3
Bob Meusel	3
Everett Scott	3
Billy Jurges	2
Freddie Fitzsimmons	2
Joe Dugan	2
Charlie Gelbert	2
George Earnshaw	2
Chief Bender	2
Urban Shocker	2
Lon Warneke	2
Eddie Rommel	2
Red Lucas	2
Chick Hafey	2
Jesse Haines	2
Cy Williams	2
Ossie Bluege	1
Ben Chapman	1
Earl Averill	1
Spud Davis	1
Leo Durocher	1
George J. Burns	1
Ping Bodie	1
Art Nehf	1
Glenn Wright	1
Whitey Witt	1
Bill Werber	1
Fred Toney	1
Bill Sherdel	1
George Selkirk	1
Charlie Root	1
Jimmy Ring	1
George Kelly	1
Roger Peckinpaugh	1
Howard Ehmke	1
Buddy Myer	1
Heinie Manush	1
Al Lopez	1
Freddy Lindstrom	1
Dickie Kerr	1
Joe Judge	1
Art Fletcher	1
Wes Ferrell	1
Hub Pruett	1
Lew Fonseca	1
Joe Oeschger	1
Wes Ferrell	1
Sam Rice	1
Leo Durocher	1
Indian Bob Johnson	1
Hal Schumacher	1
Goose Goslin	1

Run-Off Election

Player	Votes	Result
Charlie Gehringer	159	Elected
Mel Ott	128
Jimmie Foxx	89
Dizzy Dean	81
Al Simmons	76
Paul Waner	63
Harry Heilmann	52
Bill Terry	48
Hank Greenberg	44
Rabbit Maranville	39
Bill Dickey	39
Ray Schalk	17
Joe Cronin	16
Dazzy Vance	15
Ted Lyons	14
Hack Wilson	12
Ross Youngs	11
Gabby Hartnett	7
Tony Lazzeri	6
Red Ruffing	4