Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2016

Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2016 will proceed according to rules most recently amended in 2014.

As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) will vote by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players. The Pre-Integration Committee, the last of three new voting committees established during the July 2010 rules change to replace the more broadly defined Veterans Committee, will convene early in December 2015 to select from a ballot of players and non-playing personnel who made their greatest contributions to the sport prior to 1947, called the "Pre-Integration Era" by the Hall of Fame.^[1][2]

The Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held in July 2016 at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On the day before the actual induction ceremony, the annual Hall of Fame Awards Presentation will take place. At that event, two awards for media excellence will be presented – the Hall's Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters and the BBWAA's J. G. Taylor Spink Award for writers. The other major Hall of Fame award, the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, will not be presented again until at least 2017.<ref name=O'Neil>"Awards: Buck O'Neil". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved January 11, 2014. </ref>

BBWAA election

On July 26, 2014, the Hall announced changes to the rules for election for recently retired players, reducing the number of years a player will be eligible to be on the ballot from fifteen years to ten. Two candidates presently on the BBWAA ballot (Lee Smith and Alan Trammell) in years 10-15 were grandfathered into this system and retained their previous 15 years of eligibility. In addition, BBWAA members who were otherwise eligible to cast ballots were required to complete a registration form and sign a code of conduct before receiving their ballots, and the Hall will make public the names of all members who cast ballots (but not their individual votes) when it announces the election results.^[3] The code of conduct specifically states that the ballot is non-transferable, a direct reaction to Dan Le Batard's actions in the 2014 balloting process. Violation of the code of conduct will result in a lifetime ban from BBWAA voting.^[4]

The ballot will include two categories of players:

• Candidates from the 2015 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, as long as they first appeared on the BBWAA ballot no earlier than 2002.
• Selected individuals, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 2010.

All BBWAA members with at least 10 years of continuous membership are eligible to vote.

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

Caple's predictions about the players on the 2015 ballot, as well as the players he expected to be elected before then, mostly proved accurate. Larkin was indeed elected in 2012, and Maddux, Glavine and Thomas were elected on their first ballot appearance in 2014. The main exceptions were Palmeiro and Williams, who got less than 5% of the vote in prior elections and failed to stay on, and Biggio, who fell short of election in both of his first two years on the ballot, missing out in 2014 by two votes. Biggio was finally elected in 2015.

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

Alan Trammell and Mark McGwire will be on the ballot for their final time.

Players eligible for their first time include Garret Anderson, Brad Ausmus, Luis Castillo, Jim Edmonds, Troy Glaus, Ken Griffey, Jr., Mark Grudzielanek, Jose Guillen, Mike Hampton, Trevor Hoffman, Jason Kendall, Mike Lowell, Russ Ortiz, Chan Ho Park, Mike Sweeney, and Billy Wagner.

Pre-Integration Era Committee

In keeping with the new voting procedure by eras, the BBWAA-appointed Historical Overview Committee, made up of 11 BBWAA members, will identify ten Pre-Integration candidates who were judged to have made their greatest contributions prior to 1947. Along with the era, these rules defined the consideration set:^[2]

• Players who played in at least 10 major league seasons, who are not on Major League Baseball's ineligible list (e.g., Shoeless Joe Jackson), and have been retired for 21 or more seasons.
• Managers and umpires with 10 or more years in baseball and retired for at least five years. Candidates who are 65 years or older are eligible six years following retirement.
• Executives retired for at least five years. Active executives 65 years or older are eligible for consideration.

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.

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.^[8] 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".^[9] The recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum.

Ford C. Frick Award

The Ford C. Frick Award, honoring excellence in baseball broadcasting, has been presented at the induction ceremonies since 1978.^[10] 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.

This will be the third Frick Award selection under a process similar to that instituted for Veterans Committee balloting in 2010. Candidates are now considered every third year, based on the era in which they made their most significant contributions:^[11]

• "Broadcasting Dawn Era" — 1920s to early 1950s, including the early radio broadcasters. Individuals from this era will be considered for the 2016 award.
• "High Tide Era" — Mid-1980s to present, including the rise of regional cable networks. Individuals from this era were considered for the 2014 award, and will next be considered for the 2017 award.
• "Living Room Era" — Mid-1950s to early 1980s, including the rise of television. Individuals from this era were considered for the 2015 award, and will next be considered for the 2018 award.

Notes and references

External links

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