Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2013

Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2013 will proceed according to rules most recently revised in July 2010. As in the past, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) will vote by mail to select from a ballot of recently-retired players, with results expected to be announced in January 2013. One Veterans Committee panel, the third of three established by the July 2010 rules change, will convene early in December 2012 to select from a ballot of retired players and non-playing personnel who made their greatest contributions to the sport prior to 1947, called the "Pre-Integration Era" by the Hall.^[1][2]

The induction ceremonies will be held on July 28, 2013 at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.^[2] On July 27, the Hall will present two awards for media excellence—its own Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters and the BBWAA's J. G. Taylor Spink Award for writers.^[3]

BBWAA election

The BBWAA ballot is expected to be announced in late November 2012. The BBWAA is authorized to elect players active in 1993 or later, but not after 2007; the ballot will include candidates from the 2012 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 2007. All 10-year members of the BBWAA are eligible to vote.

Results of the 2011 election by the BBWAA are expected to be announced in early January 2013. The ballot currently consists of the 13 candidates who received at least 5% of the vote in the 2012 election, and will eventually include an as-yet-undetermined number of first-time candidates. Voters are expected to be instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate who receives votes on at least 75% of the ballots will be honored with induction to the Hall. Candidates who receive less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.^[4] Under BBWAA rules, write-in votes are not permitted.

The ballot currently consists only of returning candidates from 2012; these are listed in order of votes received in 2012 balloting. Once the new candidates are announced, they will be listed beneath the returning candidates alphabetically by surname.

Dale Murphy will be on the ballot for the 15th and final time.

Player	Votes	Percent
Jack Morris
Jeff Bagwell
Lee Smith
Tim Raines
Alan Trammell
Edgar Martínez
Fred McGriff
Larry Walker
Mark McGwire
Don Mattingly
Dale Murphy
Rafael Palmeiro
Bernie Williams

As in recent years, the controversy over use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) is likely to dominate the elections.^[5][6]ESPN.com columnist Jim Caple noted in the days before the announcement of the 2012 results that the PED issue, combined with the BBWAA's limit of 10 votes per ballot, was likely to result in a major backlog in upcoming elections:^[6]

“

Due to the steroid issue and a general lack of consensus, the following players will probably be on the ballot in three years: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, John Smoltz, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Mike Mussina, Jeff Kent, Larry Walker, Alan Trammell, Fred McGriff, Rafael Palmeiro, Lee Smith, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and, of course, Bernie [Williams]. That's 21 players who warrant serious consideration. And that's not counting Barry Larkin, who might be [Ed. – and was] elected this year, and also assuming Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Craig Biggio and Frank Thomas make it their first years on the ballot. Finding room for Bonds, Clemens, Pedro, Johnson and others means I'll have to dump more good players from my ballot than the Marlins dumped after winning the 1997 World Series.

”

Another ESPN.com writer, Tim Kurkjian, added that the 2013 ballot would include several new candidates who either tested positive or were strongly linked to PEDs:^[7]

“

The next Hall of Fame ballot will include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling. They all have Hall of Fame numbers, some stronger than others, but Bonds, Clemens, Sosa and Piazza certainly are not going to be elected on the first ballot — and in the case of Bonds, Clemens and Sosa, they might not make it to Cooperstown for many, many years to come.

”

Several other players returning from the 2012 ballot with otherwise-strong Hall credentials have been linked to PEDs, among them Mark McGwire (who admitted to long-term steroid use in 2010),^[8] Jeff Bagwell (who never tested positive, but was the subject of PED rumors during his career),^[9] and Rafael Palmeiro (who tested positive for stanozolol shortly after publicly denying that he had ever used steroids).^[10]

This is the first of several elections that will see a large number of potentially strong candidates become eligible. In the coming years, entering candidates will include:^[5][11]

• 2014: Tom Glavine, Jeff Kent, Greg Maddux, Mike Mussina, Kenny Rogers, Frank Thomas
• 2015: Carlos Delgado, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, Gary Sheffield, John Smoltz
• 2016: Jim Edmonds, Ken Griffey, Jr., Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner
• 2017: Jorge Posada, Iván Rodríguez, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield

In addition to those 2013 candidates already mentioned, new candidates include Kenny Lofton, David Wells, Julio Franco, Shawn Green, Steve Finley, Roberto Hernández, Jeff Cirillo, José Valentín, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, José Mesa, Royce Clayton, Bob Wickman, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Mike Lieberthal, Tony Batista, Mike Stanton, Sandy Alomar, Jr., Damian Miller, and Todd Walker.^[11]

Veterans Committee

In keeping with the current Veterans Committee voting procedure, the existing Historical Overview Committee, made up of 10 to 12 BBWAA members, will nominate 10 candidates who were judged to have made their greatest contributions prior to 1947. Along with the pre-1947 era, these criteria will define the consideration set:^[2]

• Players who were active for at least 10 seasons, are not on baseball's ineligible list (e.g., Shoeless Joe Jackson) and were last active in 1989 or earlier.
• Managers and umpires who have served for at least 10 years and are either (a) retired for at least 5 years or (b) at least 65 years old and retired for at least 6 months.
• Executives who have been retired for 5 years, or are at least 65 years old.

However, due to the passage of time, the only listed criteria that will materially restrict the field from which the candidates will be selected are years of service and presence on baseball's ineligible list.

If the timetable for the 2012 elections is maintained, the ballot for election by the Veterans Committee is expected to be released early in November 2012. A 16-member committee, consisting of Hall of Famers, media members, and executives, will be appointed by the Hall's Board of Directors and announced at that time. The Hall officially calls this group the "Pre-Integration Era Committee", but media still generally refer to it as the "Veterans Committee". The committee will vote and announce its results during the 2012 winter meetings in December. The cutoff for election and summer 2013 induction remains the standard 75%, or 12 of 16 votes.^[2]

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

The J. G. Taylor Spink Award has been presented by the BBWAA at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1962.^[12] Through 2010, it was awarded during the main induction ceremony, but is now given the previous day at the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation. It recognizes a sportswriter "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing".^[13] The recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum.

The three nominees for the 2013 award will be selected by a BBWAA committee; if the schedule for the 2012 elections is followed,^[14] they will be announced at the BBWAA's annual All-Star Game meeting in July 2012. Under BBWAA rules, the winner is to be announced either during the 2012 World Series or at the 2012 winter meetings; in recent years, the announcement has been made at the winter meetings.

Ford C. Frick Award

The Ford C. Frick Award, honoring excellence in baseball broadcasting, has been presented at the induction ceremonies since 1978.^[15] Through 2010, it had been presented at the main induction ceremony, but is now awarded at the Awards Presentation. Recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are permanently recognized in an exhibit at the museum. To be eligible, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, a network, or a combination of the two. The honor is based on four criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans. Assuming the 2012 election process is followed, the recipient will be announced during the 2012 winter meetings, following a vote by the same committee that will select seven of the finalists (below).^[16]

Ten finalists are expected to be announced in October 2012.^[16] In accord with guidelines established in 2003, seven will be chosen by a committee composed of the living recipients along with broadcasting historians and columnists. Three will be selected from a list of candidates by fan voting, expected to be held in September 2012, at the Hall's Facebook page.^[17]

See also

• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
• Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2012

Notes and references

External links

• National Baseball Hall of Fame Official Website
• BBWAA Rules for Election to the Hall of Fame

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