Salón de la Fama

The Salón in 2007

The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (in English, Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame), commonly called the Salón de la Fama (Hall of Fame) was a baseball hall of fame and museum located in Monterrey, Nuevo León. It is dedicated to recognizing people who have either contributed greatly to baseball in México. It had its first five inductees in 1939, 199 individuals, called inmortales, have been inducted into the Hall. Elections continued in 2013-2014 and a new Hall opened in Monterrey in 2019, including all the prior members; the 2014 electees were finally inducted in '19. A big part of the funding came from billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu, who spent $18.3 million on it.

Election procedure

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for election into the Salón de la Fama, one must be a former player, directors, sportswriter, or umpire that participated in the Mexican professional baseball, or a player of Mexican nationality who participated in Organized Baseball. However, there have been exceptions to these requirements made.

Players

Players must have played a minimum of ten seasons in either the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol or Liga Mexicana del Pacífico, or a total of fifteen seasons between the two leagues. In the case of players of Mexican nationality, the seasons played requirement may be satisfied by playing fifteen years in Organised Baseball.

The player must have stopped being an active player for at least five years or must have died. The electorate is to consider the merits of the player's performances and records, not for a single feat. After five elections without being elected, the player is removed from the ballot and becomes eligible for election only by the Committee on Veterans.

These requirements have not always been in place as players such as Monte Irvin and Roy Campanella did not meet the 15-year requirement.

Veterans

Veterans are players who played before 1970 as well as candidates that participated in five voting cycles in the player's election but were not elected. After five veterans' elections without being elected, the player becomes ineligible.

Directors

Club executives, usually a president or vice-president, must have participated in at least ten years in Mexican professional baseball.

Sportswriters

A sportswriter must have covered Mexican professional baseball for at least fifteen years at a national level.

Umpires

An umpire must have participated in a minimum of twenty seasons total in both leagues.

Nomination

Players

The nomination and election of former players is carried out annually. The preliminary ballot is created by the Salón de la Fama's administration and it is sent out to the members of the Comité Elector (Electing Committee) who vote for those whom they consider to have have the merits sufficient enter the Salón de la Fama. After the Salón de la Fama receives the votes, the results are soon reveled, and any player who obtains a majority of votes will be considered a candidate for election and be placed on the year's election ballot. The election ballot, is sent back out to the Comité Elector - but only those with a Cédula de Votación (Voting Certificate). They will choose the exbeisbolistas inmortales who will be enshrined in that year.

Veterans

The election of veterans is carried out every other year - the next election will be held in 2014. The election ballot, created by the Salón de la Fama's administration is sent to the Comité Elector and the Comité de Veteranos (Veterans Committee) for voting. The Comité de Veteranos is comprised of the president and former presidents of the Comité Elector (Electing Committee), and from 2003 on, living inmortales. The electorate selects the single veteran inductee into the Salón de la Fama.

Directors

The election of directors is carried out every three years - the next election will be held in 2014. The election ballot, created by the Salón de la Fama's administration is sent to the Comité Elector, the Comité de Veteranos, the league presidents of the LMB and LMP, and the club presidents in the two league's as well. The electorate selects the single inductee into the Salón de la Fama.

Sportswriters

The election of sportswriters is carried out every three years - the next election will be held in 2015. The election ballot, created by the Salón de la Fama's administration is sent to the Comité Elector and the Comité de Veteranos. The electorate selects the single inductee into the Salón de la Fama.

Umpires

The election of sportswriters is carried out every three years - the next election will be held in 2016. The election ballot, created by the Salón de la Fama's administration is sent to the Comité Elector and the Comité de Veteranos. The electorate selects the single inductee into the Salón de la Fama.

Election

Once the ballots for each election are returned (by mid-February), the Salón de la Fama tallies the votes at the Convención Nacional de Beisbol during the third or fourth week of February. The Salón de la Fama then announces the new inmortales and they are inducted in June or July. The candidate with the plurality of votes - or in the case of the player's ballot, the two candidates - is inducted.

Related Articles

• List of Salón de la Fama members