Post by Vegas on Nov 27, 2014 3:45:24 GMT -5
I really hope Randy Johnson gets selected in his first year! I think my favorite Mariner of all time Ken Griffey Jr. is on next year's ballot.
The Class of 2014 in Cooperstown set new standards at the Hall of Fame. And one glance at the 2015 ballot suggests that this summer could feature more stars, records and fans at the annual Induction Ceremony.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America 2015 Hall of Fame ballot, released Nov. 24, features 34 names, including 17 holdovers from previous elections and 17 newcom ers. When the voting results are announced at 2 p.m. ET on Jan. 6, another record-setting class to match 2014 may be revealed.
The new candidates on the ballot include Cy Young Award winners like Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz, along with sluggers Carlos Delgado and Gary Sheffield, two-time batting champion Nomar Garciaparra and lock-down closer Troy Percival.
Other first-time candidates include: Rich Aurilia, Aaron Boone, Tony Clark, Jermaine Dye, Darin Erstad, Cliff Floyd, Brian Giles, Tom Gordon, Eddie Guardado and Jason Schmidt.
In 2014, the election of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas marked just the third time in 70 Baseball Writers’ Association of America elections that three first-year candidates were named in one year and just the eighth time overall that as many as three candidates in any year of eligibility were elected by the BBWAA.
The 17 candidates returning to the BBWAA ballot (with their 2014 election percentages) are: Craig Biggio (74.8%), Mike Piazza (62.2%), Jeff Bagwell (54.3%), Tim Raines (46.1%), Roger Clemens (35.4%), Barry Bonds (34.7%), Lee Smith (29.9%), Curt Schilling (29.2%), Edgar Martinez (25.2%), Alan Trammell (20.8%), Mike Mussina (20.3%), Jeff Kent (15.2%), Fred McGriff (11.7%), Mark McGwire (11.0%), Larry Walker (10.2%), Don Mattingly (8.2%) and Sammy Sosa (7.2%).
Mattingly is eligible for the BBWAA ballot for the 15th-and-final time. If he is not elected in January, he will become eligible for consideration by the Expansion Era Committee beginning in the fall of 2016.
With so much star power on the ballot, a record number of candidates could appear on 75 percent of all ballots cast – the minimum threshold needed to earn election. Since the BBWAA began electing Hall of Fame candidates in 1936, only once – in that inaugural 1936 election – have five candidates earned enough support for election. Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner became the First Five in 1936.
Since then, the BBWAA has elected four candidates in one year only twice: 1947, when Mickey Cochrane, Frankie Frisch, Lefty Grove and Carl Hubbell were elected; and 1955, when Joe DiMaggio, Gabby Hartnett, Ted Lyons and Dazzy Vance earned election.
The writers nearly elected four candidates in 2014, as Biggio missed election by two votes – tying Pie Traynor in 1947 and Nellie Fox in 1985 for the smallest margin ever for a candidate who was not elected.
The Class of 2014 in Cooperstown set new standards at the Hall of Fame. And one glance at the 2015 ballot suggests that this summer could feature more stars, records and fans at the annual Induction Ceremony.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America 2015 Hall of Fame ballot, released Nov. 24, features 34 names, including 17 holdovers from previous elections and 17 newcom ers. When the voting results are announced at 2 p.m. ET on Jan. 6, another record-setting class to match 2014 may be revealed.
The new candidates on the ballot include Cy Young Award winners like Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz, along with sluggers Carlos Delgado and Gary Sheffield, two-time batting champion Nomar Garciaparra and lock-down closer Troy Percival.
Other first-time candidates include: Rich Aurilia, Aaron Boone, Tony Clark, Jermaine Dye, Darin Erstad, Cliff Floyd, Brian Giles, Tom Gordon, Eddie Guardado and Jason Schmidt.
In 2014, the election of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas marked just the third time in 70 Baseball Writers’ Association of America elections that three first-year candidates were named in one year and just the eighth time overall that as many as three candidates in any year of eligibility were elected by the BBWAA.
The 17 candidates returning to the BBWAA ballot (with their 2014 election percentages) are: Craig Biggio (74.8%), Mike Piazza (62.2%), Jeff Bagwell (54.3%), Tim Raines (46.1%), Roger Clemens (35.4%), Barry Bonds (34.7%), Lee Smith (29.9%), Curt Schilling (29.2%), Edgar Martinez (25.2%), Alan Trammell (20.8%), Mike Mussina (20.3%), Jeff Kent (15.2%), Fred McGriff (11.7%), Mark McGwire (11.0%), Larry Walker (10.2%), Don Mattingly (8.2%) and Sammy Sosa (7.2%).
Mattingly is eligible for the BBWAA ballot for the 15th-and-final time. If he is not elected in January, he will become eligible for consideration by the Expansion Era Committee beginning in the fall of 2016.
With so much star power on the ballot, a record number of candidates could appear on 75 percent of all ballots cast – the minimum threshold needed to earn election. Since the BBWAA began electing Hall of Fame candidates in 1936, only once – in that inaugural 1936 election – have five candidates earned enough support for election. Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner became the First Five in 1936.
Since then, the BBWAA has elected four candidates in one year only twice: 1947, when Mickey Cochrane, Frankie Frisch, Lefty Grove and Carl Hubbell were elected; and 1955, when Joe DiMaggio, Gabby Hartnett, Ted Lyons and Dazzy Vance earned election.
The writers nearly elected four candidates in 2014, as Biggio missed election by two votes – tying Pie Traynor in 1947 and Nellie Fox in 1985 for the smallest margin ever for a candidate who was not elected.
