Awards

Members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame

By Patrick Mondout

There are over 275 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The list below includes writers or broadcasters (winners of the Frick and Spink awards) even though they are not deemed worthy by the Hall of Fame as full-fledged members.

The first balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) took place before the 1936 season. Voters were allowed to vote for up to 10 players and a player had to be named on at least 75% of submitted ballots to win election. Though that percentage has never changed, the number of votes necessary varies by the number cast. Tom Seaver received the highest percent of the vote in any election (see top 25) with 98.8% in 1992.

When a player has either received less than 5% in an election or has failed in 15 attempts, he is no longer eligible for the BBWAA vote and can only achieve membership through a special committee. Various committees, including the notorious Veterans Committee have elected those not otherwise eligible for the BBWAA vote. An interesting trend in recent years is the 60% Phenomenon. Since 1984, every player who gets at least 60% in an election has eventually been inducted - either by the writers or the Veterans.

One name noticeably missing from the Hall of Fame is Abner Doubleday. Alexander Cartwright is there, but not Doubleday. This is source of embarrassment for the Hall as the Doubleday Myth (which was created by Albert Spalding in 1907 and suggested that the game had been invented in Cooperstown) is the only reason it was ever located in the tiny New York town to begin with. The myth was spotted immediately, but many choose to believe myths rather than less interesting realities.

Learn more about the Baseball Hall of Fame.

If you want to see a player's yearly vote totals, look here by last name:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

* denotes special election

Hall of Fame References