2014 Hall of Fame Election

BBWAA Voting

The results of the 2014 Hall of Fame Election were announced on January 8, 2014. 571 votes were cast and 429 votes were needed to be elected. Three players were elected, all on their first try: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas. A fourth, Craig Biggio, fell only two votes short in what was one of the strongest ballots ever, following the previous year's failure to elect anyone on the so-called "steroid ballot".

It was the first time three players were elected since the 1999 Hall of Fame Election, and the third time that three players were elected on their first try since the original Hall of Fame class, back in 1936. The fallout from the 2000s PED scandal continued, with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa finishing well back, and Rafael Palmeiro dropping off the ballot altogether. Also falling off the ballot was P Jack Morris, whose 15-year window of eligibility ended with his total slightly above 60%.

The strong first-year class, coupled with an already strong group of holdover candidates, also meant that almost all of the holdover candidates saw their vote total decrease, except for Biggio and Mike Piazza. This was most apparent for Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell, strong candidates who had been making steady progress until then, but was felt all the way down the ballot, with Lee Smith, Curt Schilling and Edgar Martinez all losing significant support. Other first-timers such as Jeff Kent and Mike Mussina also found it tough, scoring well below what would have been expected with a less-loaded ballot.

Player	Votes	Percentage	Year on the Ballot	Result
Greg Maddux	555	97.2	1st	ELECTED
Tom Glavine	525	91.9	1st	ELECTED
Frank Thomas	478	83.7	1st	ELECTED
Craig Biggio	427	74.8	2nd
Mike Piazza	355	62.2	2nd
Jack Morris	351	61.5	15th	Dropped
Jeff Bagwell	310	54.3	4th
Tim Raines	263	46.1	7th
Roger Clemens	202	35.4	2nd
Barry Bonds	198	34.7	2nd
Lee Smith	171	29.9	12th
Curt Schilling	167	29.2	2nd
Edgar Martinez	144	25.2	5th
Alan Trammell	119	20.8	13th
Mike Mussina	116	20.3	1st
Jeff Kent	87	15.2	1st
Fred McGriff	67	11.7	5th
Mark McGwire	63	11.0	8th
Larry Walker	58	10.2	4th
Don Mattingly	47	8.2	14th
Sammy Sosa	41	7.2	2nd
Rafael Palmeiro	25	4.4	4th	Dropped
Moises Alou	6	1.1	1st	Dropped
Hideo Nomo	6	1.1	1st	Dropped
Luis Gonzalez	5	0.9	1st	Dropped
Eric Gagne	2	0.4	1st	Dropped
J.T. Snow	2	0.4	1st	Dropped
Armando Benitez	1	0.2	1st	Dropped
Jacque Jones	1	0.2	1st	Dropped
Kenny Rogers	1	0.2	1st	Dropped
Sean Casey	0	0	1st	Dropped
Ray Durham	0	0	1st	Dropped
Todd Jones	0	0	1st	Dropped
Paul Lo Duca	0	0	1st	Dropped
Richie Sexson	0	0	1st	Dropped
Mike Timlin	0	0	1st	Dropped

Veterans Committee

The Veterans Committee examined candidates from the expansion era (post-1973). This was the fourth year of the new rotating eras format. The results of the vote were announced at the annual winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, FL on December 9, 2013. 16 ballots were cast with 12 being needed for election. If a candidate received fewer than 6 votes, his true total was not disclosed. The committee elected three candidates, all three unanimously and all of them largely because of their contributions as managers: Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre. Although Cox and LaRussa had only brief playing careers, Torre was a borderline candidate as a player, but it was his success as manager of the New York Yankees in the 1990s and 2000s that got him over the line. Because of that strong group of managers being on the ballot for the first time, MLBPA executive Marvin Miller, who had been on the verge of election in previous rounds, fell back in the voting as no other candidate obtained the required 6 votes to have his total made public.

The voting committee is made up of 16 members: 8 Hall of Famers (Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Whitey Herzog, Tommy Lasorda, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan, Phil Niekro and Frank Robinson), 4 executives (Paul Beeston, Andy MacPhail, Dave Montgomery and Jerry Reinsdorf) and 4 media members (Steve Hirdt, Bruce Jenkins, Jack O'Connell and Jim Reeves).

Player	Votes	Percentage	Result
Bobby Cox	16	100.0	ELECTED
Tony LaRussa	16	100.0	ELECTED
Joe Torre	16	100.0	ELECTED
Dave Concepcion	<6	<37.5
Steve Garvey	<6	<37.5
Tommy John	<6	<37.5
Billy Martin	<6	<37.5
Marvin Miller	<6	<37.5
Dave Parker	<6	<37.5
Dan Quisenberry	<6	<37.5
Ted Simmons	<6	<37.5
George Steinbrenner	<6	<37.5

Induction

The 2014 Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place on July 27th in Cooperstown, NY. In addition to the six elected, the winner of the Ford Frick Award for broadcasting excellence, Eric Nadel, and the winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing, Roger Angell, were also honored.

Given the large number and the prestige of this year's class, the ceremony was particularly well attended, with an estimated 48,000 fans present on the village green, making it one of the largest crowds ever at the annual event.

Further Reading

• Barry M. Bloom: "Hall's Class of '14 set to take place in history: Six inductees whittling down speeches in advance of anticipated ceremony", mlb.com, July 27, 2014. [1]
• Barry M. Bloom: "Class of 2014 takes its place among game's legends: Players Maddux, Glavine, Thomas, managers Torre, La Russa, Cox enter Hall of Fame", mlb.com, July 27, 2014. [2]
• Bob Nightengale: "Hall of Famers play an ode to joy", USA Today, July 27, 2014. [3]

Related Sites

• Article from AP on Veterans Committee candidates
• Article on results on Veterans Committee vote
• Article on results of the BBWAA vote