1967 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1967 included a special election, as the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) held its first balloting in an odd-number year since 1955. The special election was held due to some ineligible players having received votes in the prior year's balloting,[lower-alpha 1] and the BBWAA wanting "to give those eligible every opportunity" to be selected.[1]

1967 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
New inductees3
via BBWAA1
via Veterans Committee2
Total inductees107
Induction dateJuly 24, 1967
1967 BBWAA inductee Red Ruffing

In this year's voting, the BBWAA did not elect anyone on the first ballot.[2] In a second (runoff) election, Red Ruffing received the most votes, resulting in his election to the Hall of Fame.[3] Had this year's special election not been held, Ruffing would have been ineligible for selection by the writers in 1968,[4] as he last played in 1947 and would have exceeded the 20-year eligibility limit. BBWAA rules were subsequently updated to return to annual voting, while eliminating runoff ballots.

The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected two people, Branch Rickey and Lloyd Waner. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on July 24, 1967, with Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert presiding.[5]

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1947 or later, but not after 1961; the ballot included selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 1961. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.

Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. The ballot consisted of 47 players; a total of 292 ballots were cast, with 219 votes required for election. A total of 2,321 individual votes were cast, an average of 7.95 per ballot.

No one reached the threshold, so there was a runoff election featuring the 31 leading candidates (30, including a tie). There would be one winner regardless of numerical support on the second ballot; in fact, winner Red Ruffing tallied 266 of 306 votes or 87%. A total of 1,198 individual votes were cast in the run-off, an average of 4.10 per ballot, as voters concentrated their support on the leading candidates.

Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). Candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. Al López was later elected as a manager.

Red Ruffing, Al López, Billy Herman, Mel Harder and Ernie Lombardi were on the ballot for the final time because they last played in 1947.

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

Grantland Rice (1880–1954) received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer.[6] The award was voted at the December 1966 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1967 ceremonies.

Notes
  1. Contemporary news reports do not indicate who any of the "ineligible players" were.

References
  1. "Balloting Starts For Hall Of Fame". Odessa American. Odessa, Texas. UPI. January 1, 1967. p. 4-C. Retrieved October 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  2. "Ruffing, Medwick Tie But Miss Hall of Fame". The Pantagraph. Bloomington, Illinois. AP. January 26, 1967. p. 17. Retrieved October 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. "Ruffing In Hall Of Fame". The Pantagraph. Bloomington, Illinois. AP. February 16, 1967. p. 8. Retrieved October 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  4. Daley, Arthur (January 10, 1967). "Gas House Gang's Medwick Should Be In Hall Of Fame". The Journal Standard. Freeport, Illinois. New York Times News Service. p. 2-1. Retrieved October 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  5. "Induct Trio into Hall of Fame". The Pantagraph. Bloomington, Illinois. AP. July 25, 1967. p. 16. Retrieved October 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  6. "1966 BBWAA Career Excellence Award Winner Grantland Rice".
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