2013 Hall of Fame Election

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 (both would be elected, by the BBWAA and Veterans Committee, respectively, within a few years). A candidate required being named on 75% of the ballots to be elected.

That 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 to turn 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 that they had no intention of voting for the tainted players. Again, this was clearly reflected in the voting results.

Player	Votes	Percentage	Year on the Ballot	Result
Craig Biggio	388	68.2	1st
Jack Morris	385	67.7	14th
Jeff Bagwell	339	59.6	3rd
Mike Piazza	329	57.8	1st
Tim Raines	297	52.2	6th
Lee Smith	272	47.8	11th
Curt Schilling	221	38.8	1st
Roger Clemens	214	37.6	1st
Barry Bonds	206	36.2	1st
Edgar Martinez	204	35.9	4th
Alan Trammell	191	33.6	12th
Larry Walker	123	21.6	3rd
Fred McGriff	118	20.7	4th
Dale Murphy	106	18.6	15th	Dropped
Mark McGwire	96	16.9	7th
Don Mattingly	75	13.2	13th
Sammy Sosa	71	12.5	1st
Rafael Palmeiro	50	8.8	3rd
Bernie Williams	19	3.3	2nd	Dropped
Kenny Lofton	18	3.2	1st	Dropped
Sandy Alomar	16	2.8	1st	Dropped
Julio Franco	6	1.1	1st	Dropped
David Wells	5	0.9	1st	Dropped
Steve Finley	4	0.7	1st	Dropped
Shawn Green	2	0.4	1st	Dropped
Aaron Sele	1	0.2	1st	Dropped
Jeff Cirillo	0	0	1st	Dropped
Royce Clayton	0	0	1st	Dropped
Jeff Conine	0	0	1st	Dropped
Roberto Hernandez	0	0	1st	Dropped
Ryan Klesko	0	0	1st	Dropped
Jose Mesa	0	0	1st	Dropped
Reggie Sanders	0	0	1st	Dropped
Mike Stanton	0	0	1st	Dropped
Todd Walker	0	0	1st	Dropped
Rondell White	0	0	1st	Dropped
Woody Williams	0	0	1st	Dropped

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 votes 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: four Hall of Famers (Bert Blyleven, Pat Gillick, Phil Niekro and Don Sutton), four executives (Bill DeWitt, Roland Hemond, Gary Hughes and Bob Watson) and eight media members/historians (Jim Henneman, Steve Hirdt, Peter Morris, Phil Pepe, Tom Simon, Claire Smith, T.R. Sullivan and Mark Whicker).

Player	Votes	Percentage	Result
Hank O'Day	15	93.8	ELECTED
Jacob Ruppert	15	93.8	ELECTED
Deacon White	14	87.5	ELECTED
Bill Dahlen	10	62.5
Sam Breadon	<3	<18.8
Wes Ferrell	<3	<18.8
Marty Marion	<3	<18.8
Tony Mullane	<3	<18.8
Al Reach	<3	<18.8
Bucky Walters	<3	<18.8

Induction

The 2013 Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place on July 28th in Cooperstown, NY. The three persons elected from the Veterans Committee ballot were inducted in the first induction ceremony to be conducted without a living inductee present since 1965. 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, were honored on July 27th, also in Cooperstown. Cheek was also honored posthumously, making Hagen the lone exception.

Because the three new inducteed were all long deceased, the Hall took the opportunity to also hold an induction ceremony for some long-time members who had not received one as a result of having been elected during World War II. The twelve members thus honored were Lou Gehrig and Rogers Hornsby, elected in 1939 and 1942 Hall of Fame Election respectively, and all ten members from the class of 1945. The latter group consisted of Roger Bresnahan, Dan Brouthers, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Collins, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Duffy, Hughie Jennings, King Kelly, Jim O'Rourke and Wilbert Robinson. One other person had been elected during this period, the late Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in a special election held shortly after his passing in 1944, but he had been properly honored as part of the Class of 1946.

Further Reading

• Barry M. Bloom: "Biggio tops vote but no one elected to Hall", mlb.com, January 9, 2013 [1]
• Barry M. Bloom: "Ruppert among trio inducted into Hall of Fame: Former Yankees owner joined by catcher White, ump O'Day in Class of 2013", mlb.com, July 28, 2013 [2]
• Christine Brennan: "Brennan: Hall of Fame for Bonds, Clemens, Sosa? Really?", USA Today, November 28, 2012 [3]
• Steve Gardner: "Lou Gehrig may be the biggest name at this summer's Hall ceremony", USA Today, January 9, 2013. [4]
• Gabe Lacques: "Hall of Fame ballot: The facts and whispers on PEDs", USA Today, November 29, 2012 [5]

Related Sites

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