2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2014 will proceed according to rules most recently revised in July 2010. As in the past, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) will vote by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players, with results expected to be announced in January 2014. One of three Veterans Committee panels established by the July 2010 rules change will convene early in December to select from a ballot of retired players and non-playing personnel who made their greatest contributions to the sport after 1972, a time frame that the Hall calls the "Expansion Era".

The induction ceremonies will be held in July 2014 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, the Hall will present two awards for media excellence—its own Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters and the BBWAA's J. G. Taylor Spink Award for writers. In addition, the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award may also be handed out; under the rules for that award, last presented in 2011, it may be presented no more frequently than every third year.

BBWAA election

The BBWAA ballot is expected to be announced in late November 2013. The BBWAA is authorized to elect players active in 1994 or later, but not after 2008; the ballot will include candidates from the 2013 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 2008. All 10-year members of the BBWAA are eligible to vote.

As in most recent elections, the controversy over use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) is likely to dominate the elections. 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:

Due to the steroid issue and a general lack of consensus, the following players will probably be on the ballot in three years: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, John Smoltz, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Mike Mussina, Jeff Kent, Larry Walker, Alan Trammell, Fred McGriff, Rafael Palmeiro, Lee Smith, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and, of course, Bernie [Williams]. That's 21 players who warrant serious consideration. And that's not counting Barry Larkin, who might be [Ed. – and was] elected this year, and also assuming Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Craig Biggio and Frank Thomas make it their first years on the ballot. Finding room for Bonds, Clemens, Pedro, Johnson and others means I'll have to dump more good players from my ballot than the Marlins dumped after winning the 1997 World Series.

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:

The next Hall of Fame ballot will include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling. They all have Hall of Fame numbers, some stronger than others, but Bonds, Clemens, Sosa and Piazza certainly are not going to be elected on the first ballot — and in the case of Bonds, Clemens and Sosa, they might not make it to Cooperstown for many, many years to come.

None of the players on the 2013 ballot received the required 75 percent of the vote to be elected, with Biggio topping the list at 68.2%. Eighteen players received at least five percent of the vote; 17 of them will be included on the 2014 ballot (the other, Dale Murphy, was in his 15th and final year on the BBWAA ballot). Jack Morris will be in his final year on the ballot in 2014.

Several other players returning from the 2013 ballot with otherwise-strong Hall credentials have been linked to PEDs, among them Mark McGwire (who admitted to long-term steroid use in 2010), Jeff Bagwell (who never tested positive, but was the subject of PED rumors during his career), and Rafael Palmeiro (who tested positive for stanozolol shortly after denying that he had ever used steroids).

This is the second of several elections that will see a large number of potentially strong candidates become eligible. In the coming years, entering candidates will include:

• 2014: Tom Glavine, Luis Gonzalez, Jeff Kent, Greg Maddux, Mike Mussina, Kenny Rogers, Frank Thomas
• 2015: Carlos Delgado, Nomar Garciaparra, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, Gary Sheffield, John Smoltz
• 2016: Jim Edmonds, Ken Griffey, Jr., Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner
• 2017: Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Edgar Rentería, Iván Rodríguez
• 2018: Chipper Jones, Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome
• 2019: Todd Helton, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera

Other candidates who will be newly eligible in 2014 include Moises Alou, Tony Armas Jr., Armando Benitez, Joe Borowski, Sean Casey, Jose Cruz Jr., Mike DiFelice, Ray Durham, Damion Easley, Scott Elarton, Shawn Estes, Sal Fasano, Keith Foulke, Eric Gagne, Scott Hatteberg, Geoff Jenkins, Jason Johnson, Jacque Jones, Todd Jones, Ray King, Jon Lieber, Esteban Loaiza, Paul Lo Duca, Kent Mercker, Matt Morris, Trot Nixon, Hideo Nomo, Abraham Nunez, Odalis Perez, Tomas Perez, Mark Redman, Alberto Reyes, Juan Rincon, Dave Roberts, Rudy Seanez, Richie Sexson, J. T. Snow, Shannon Stewart, Tanyon Sturtze, Mark Sweeney, Mike Timlin, Salomon Torres, Steve Trachsel, Javier Valentin, Jose Vidro, Daryle Ward, and Dmitri Young.

Template:Multicol

Player	Votes	Percent	Change	Year
Jeff Bagwell				4th
Craig Biggio				2nd
Barry Bonds				2nd
Roger Clemens				2nd
Edgar Martínez				5th
Don Mattingly				14th
Fred McGriff				5th
Mark McGwire				8th
Jack Morris				15th
Rafael Palmeiro				4th
Mike Piazza				2nd
Tim Raines				7th
Curt Schilling				2nd
Lee Smith				12th
Sammy Sosa				2nd
Alan Trammell				13th
Larry Walker				4th

Key

	Elected to the Hall of Fame on this ballot (named in bold italics).
	Elected subsequently, as of 2024 (named in plain italics).
	Renominated for the 2015 BBWAA election by adequate performance on this ballot and has not subsequently been eliminated.
	Eliminated from annual BBWAA consideration by poor performance or expiration on subsequent ballots.
	Eliminated from annual BBWAA consideration by poor performance or expiration on this ballot.
†	First time on the BBWAA ballot.
*	Eliminated from annual BBWAA consideration by poor performance on this ballot (not expiration).

Veterans Committee

In keeping with the current Veterans Committee voting procedure, the existing Historical Overview Committee, made up of 10 to 12 BBWAA members, will nominate 12 candidates who were judged to have made their greatest contributions after 1972; this group was previously considered in 2011. Although several managers and executives and one umpire from this period were selected between 1996 and 2011, no player from this period has yet been elected by any of the forms of the Veterans Committee. Along with the post-1972 era, these criteria will define the consideration set:

• Players who were active for at least 10 seasons, are not on baseball's ineligible list (e.g., Pete Rose) and were last active in 1992 or earlier.
• Managers and umpires who have served for at least 10 years and are either (a) retired for at least 5 years or (b) at least 65 years old and retired for at least 6 months.
• Executives who have been retired for 5 years, or are at least 65 years old.

If the timetable for the 2013 elections is maintained, the ballot for election by the Veterans Committee is expected to be released early in November 2013. Among the players eligible for the first time will be Bob Boone, Bill Buckner, Dwight Evans, Keith Hernandez, Fred Lynn, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Dan Quisenberry, Willie Randolph and Frank White. The ballot is expected to include a group of highly successful managers who will be eligible for the first time, including Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Lou Piniella and Joe Torre; longtime umpire Ed Montague will also be eligible for the first time. A 16-member committee, consisting of Hall of Famers, media members, and executives, will be appointed by the Hall's Board of Directors and announced at that time. The Hall officially calls this group the "Expansion Era Committee", but media still generally refer to it as the "Veterans Committee". The committee will vote and announce its results during the 2013 winter meetings in December. The cutoff for election and summer 2014 induction remains the standard 75%, or 12 of 16 votes.

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

The three nominees for the 2014 award, selected by a BBWAA committee, were announced at the BBWAA's annual All-Star Game meeting on July 16. 2013. They are essayist Roger Angell; the late Furman Bisher, longtime columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Melvin Durslag, former columnist for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Under BBWAA rules, the winner is to be announced either during the 2013 World Series or at the 2013 winter meetings; in recent years, the announcement has been made at the winter meetings.

Ford C. Frick Award

The Ford C. Frick Award, honoring excellence in baseball broadcasting, has been presented at the induction ceremonies since 1978. 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. Assuming the 2013 election process is followed, the recipient will be announced during the 2013 winter meetings, following a vote by the same committee that will select seven of the finalists (below).

Ten finalists are expected to be announced in October 2013. In accord with guidelines established in 2003, seven will be chosen by a committee composed of the living recipients along with broadcasting historians and columnists. Three will be selected from a list of candidates by fan voting, expected to be held in September 2013, at the Hall's Facebook page.

Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award

Another Hall of Fame honor, the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, may also be presented at the 2014 Awards Presentation. The award was created in 2008 in honor of Buck O'Neil, a Negro leagues star who went on to become one of baseball's leading ambassadors until his death in 2006. The first award was presented posthumously to O'Neil at the 2008 induction ceremony, and the second was given to veteran baseball executive Roland Hemond in 2011. According to the Hall,

The Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award is presented by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors not more than once every three years to honor an individual whose extraordinary efforts enhanced baseball's positive impact on society, broadened the game's appeal, and whose character, integrity and dignity are comparable to the qualities exhibited by O'Neil.

As with the media awards, recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are permanently recognized by the Hall. In this case, the recipients are listed alongside a life-size statue of O'Neil that stands at the entrance to the museum. Written nominations for the award are accepted by mail at any time; the nomination must specifically state how the nominee meets the traits exemplified by O'Neil.

See also

• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
• Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2013

External links

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