| Baseball Hall Of Fame Balloting, 1945 |
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In response to increasing complaints that the stars of the 19th century were being ignored, commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis had in August 1944 enlarged the Hall Of Fame Committee from four members to seven, and had instructed them to elect a minimum of 10 players from the 1876 - 1900 period when they met as the Old-Timers Committee in early 1945 - a goal the committee members believed would be relatively easy to meet, as some among them stated that the number of qualified candidates was likely over two dozen. After Landis' death in November 1944, the committee Met Briefly to elect Landis to membership in the Hall, and also suggested that if the January 1945 election by the BBWAA failed to select any players whose careers extended into the initial years of the 20th century, some would be selected by the committee when they met in February. THE BBWAA ELECTION Members of the BBWAA again had the authority to select any players active in the 20th century (after 1900), provided they had not appeared in a major league game in 1944. 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 247 ballots were cast, with 2495 individual votes for 94 specific candidates; 186 votes were required for election. The results were announced on January 28, 1945. The emphasis on the players of the 1900s and 1910s, who many voters felt should be given priority, again continued to increase beyond the levels seen in 1939 and 1942 . Only 5 of the top 22 candidates in the voting, and none of the top 6, had seen any substantial play since 1917; only 3 of the top 36, and none of the top 22, had played their final season anytime between 1918 and 1933. 8 of the top 13 candidates were deceased. Players who had been retired over 27 years - 48 of the 94 named - received 72% of the votes. For the first time in the six BBWAA elections, no candidate received at least 75% of the vote. Particularly in view of the fact that the next election was not scheduled to be held until 1948, that a new generation of players was quickly becoming eligible, and that increasingly fractured voting patterns would make selections more improbable, criticism became widespread that the election system needed to be reviewed and quickly revised; it was suggested that the Old-Timers Committee might select some of the earliest popular candidates to help clear the top of the ballot. At its September 1945 meeting, the Hall of Fame Committee ordered that the three-year wait between elections be abolished, and that annual elections resume under a revised format. Candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in ''italics'':
THE OLD-TIMERS COMMITTEE In response to the failure of the BBWAA to select any inductees, the Old-Timers Committee was encouraged to assist the BBWAA in clearing the congestion at the top of its ballot by including, among their 10 requested selections from the period 1876-1900, some players whose careers extended into the early 20th century - in particular, the three players gaining over 100 votes in the BBWAA election whose careers had peaked before 1905. The committee members were: Hall of Fame president Stephen C. Clark , who chaired the committee; Hall of Fame treasurer Paul S. Kerr , the committee secretary; Yankees president Ed Barrow ; Athletics owner/manager Connie Mack ; New York sportswriter Sid Mercer ; Braves president Bob Quinn ; and Boston sportswriter Mel Webb . The committee had initially planned to meet in February; but the long search for a successor to Landis, along with the retirements of Barrow and Quinn as club presidents, delayed the meeting until April 25, one day after Albert "Happy" Chandler was elected as the new commissioner. On that day, in the offices of the New York Yankees, six members of the committee met to make their selections; Sid Mercer could not attend due to a long illness which took his life 8 weeks later. The selections The committee, as requested, selected 10 inductees, the first 3 by unanimous vote:
Of the 10 selections, only Clarke and Duffy were still living. The committee intended to consider the pitchers of the era at their next meeting in September, and to elect additional members at that time. When they met in Cooperstown on September 6, however, they focused instead on revising the widely criticized election process, and ordered that the BBWAA resume annual elections under a revised format which was hoped to facilitate more selections (the BBWAA having selected only one player in 6 years). Former National League president John Heydler participated in the meeting to replace those members who were deceased or otherwise unable to attend. Once the decision was made to hold the next election in 1946 rather than in 1948, the committee agreed to postpone the selection of pitchers and other candidates until they met in spring 1946. Other candidates Among those candidates who were not elected by the Old-Timers Committee at their April 1945 meeting, there were five who received particularly strong support or attention:
Criticism and rationale Although the committee's selections were roundly applauded at the time, in later years many baseball historians and writers came to strongly believe that the committee erred in some of its 1945 selections, and that too many individuals had been elected; however, this view does not consider the fact that the committee had been ''required'' to select 10 inductees that year. There are also several factors which make the reasons for their choices clearly discernable: #After the failed BBWAA election, the committee was primarily focused on assisting the BBWAA in relieving the congestion at the top of its ballot, and was encouraged to select some players who had played into the early 20th century and were receiving support in the BBWAA vote. Therefore, their selections that year tended to strongly favor the period between 1893 (when baseball moved the pitcher back 10 feet from the plate) and 1910; all ten of their selections were active players in 1893 or later, and seven were active after 1900. #Of all the non-pitchers who had retired before 1910, only 5 had received more than 2 votes (1% of the vote) in the 1945 BBWAA election: Jimmy Collins (121), Ed Delahanty (111), Hughie Jennings (92), Wilbert Robinson (81) and Hugh Duffy (64). All five were stars prior to 1900, with only Collins playing regularly after 1903, and each had received over 25% of the BBWAA vote; every other non-pitcher retired before 1910 who had ''ever'' received over 2% of the BBWAA vote had already been elected. The committee elected all five, and criticism of any of these choices is more appropriately directed at the BBWAA voters who supported their selection, as the Old-Timers Committee was acting simply out of agreement with their vote. #The committee apparently made an attempt to elect players at positions which were not yet represented in the Hall; by 1945, the BBWAA had elected 20th century players at every position except Catcher , Third Base and Left Field . The committee's election of Jimmy Collins corrected the absence of a third baseman, as he was generally regarded as the game's greatest player at the position to that time and had consistently finished first among third basemen in the BBWAA voting, usually outpolling the combined totals of all others at the position. His career spanned the years 1894 to 1908, easily allowing him to be considered a star in both centuries. The committee's choices at the other two positions also followed the BBWAA vote closely. Catcher Roger Bresnahan had finished first among catchers in most of the BBWAA elections, with only the recently retired Mickey Cochrane competing for the top spot. In the voting since 1937, Fred Clarke had trailed only Ed Delahanty - who died in 1903 - among left fielders. Both Bresnahan and Clarke were stars of the 1900s who had made their major league debuts in the 1890s, making them eligible for selection by the Old-Timers. #Among most of those following the elections, there was very strong sentiment to choose players who had remained in the sport as managers, coaches or executives after retiring. Eight of the selections were major league managers at some point, with five (Clarke, Collins, Jennings, King Kelly and Robinson) leading their teams to pennants. Bresnahan, Jennings and Robinson each served at least five seasons as coaches in the major leagues, and Duffy worked as a scout for many years. With the elections of Clarke, Robinson and Jennings, 5 of the 9 retired managers with over 1000 wins were now in the Hall (as well as the still-active Connie Mack), with Clark Griffith's candidacy deferred. There were 14 managers with at least 1000 wins before 1945; all have since been elected, the last being Frank Selee in 1999. #There was a strong emphasis on those who had played central roles on championship teams, particularly the three-time champion Baltimore Orioles of 1894-95-96 which were regarded by many as the greatest baseball dynasty of the 19th century; Dan Brouthers , Jennings and Robinson were all regulars on that team, with Jennings also playing for a later Brooklyn champion and Brouthers starring for 3 earlier champions. Bresnahan had starred on the 1905 New York Giants; Collins was the playing manager of the 1903 Boston Americans, and a star player for two NL champions of the late 1890s; Duffy starred on 5 pennant winners in Boston in the 1890s; and Clarke was the playing manager of 4 pennant winners in Pittsburgh. Kelly and Jim O'Rourke each starred on several pennant winners in the era before 1893. Of the 10 selections, 8 had been a starting player and/or manager on at least four pennant winners. |
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