1951 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1951 followed the same rules as 1950. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted once by mail to select from major league players retired less than 25 years. It elected two, Jimmie Foxx and Mel Ott.[1] Meanwhile, the Old-Timers Committee, with jurisdiction over earlier players and other figures, did not meet. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on July 23, 1951, with National League president Ford Frick in attendance.[2]

1951 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
New inductees2
via BBWAA2
Total inductees60
Induction dateJuly 23, 1951
← 1950
1952 →
1951 inductees Jimmie Foxx (left) and Mel Ott

BBWAA election

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The 10-year members of the BBWAA had the authority to select any players active in 1926 or later, provided they had not been active in 1950. Voters were instructed to cast votes for 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall.

A total of 226 ballots were cast, with 2,167 individual votes for 86 specific candidates, an average of 9.59 per ballot; 170 votes were required for election. The two candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics.

The voters' focus this year was on sluggers. Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx both had over 500 home runs on their resumes. Rounding out the top five were batting average champions Paul Waner, Harry Heilmann, and Bill Terry. Popular hurler Dizzy Dean was sixth.

Sources

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  • James, Bill (1994). The Politics of Glory: How Baseball's Hall of Fame Really Works. Macmillan. ISBN 0025107747. Note: reissued in paperback as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?

References

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  1. ^ "Ott and Foxx are Voted into Hall of Fame". Chicago Tribune. AP. January 27, 1951. p. 3-1. Retrieved October 23, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Smits, Ted (July 24, 1951). "Foxx, Ott Honored By Baseball". The Tampa Tribune. AP. p. 15. Retrieved October 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
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