1938 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
New inductees | 3 |
---|---|
via BBWAA | 1 |
via Centennial Commission | 2 |
Total inductees | 16 |
Induction date | June 12, 1939 |
The 1938 elections to select inductees to the
As the obvious stars had already been elected, only pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander was selected via the BBWAA ballot.[1] The Centennial Commission selected Alexander Cartwright and Henry Chadwick.[2]
BBWAA vote
In the BBWAA election, 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 upon its opening in the sport's supposed centennial year of 1939. Individuals who had been barred from baseball, though not formally ineligible, no longer received even the minimal support given them in the two prior elections.
A total of 262 ballots were cast, with 2,475 individual votes for 120 specific candidates, an average of 9.45 per ballot; 197 votes were required for election. The balloting was dominated by players of the 1900s and 1910s, rather than those of the more recent two decades; the results were announced in January 1938. The sole candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics:
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Centennial Commission
Once again, the Hall opted to have this small committee of
- Alexander Cartwright, who had been instrumental in organizing some of the game's first teams in the 1840s and had moved to establish the game's first consistent playing rules; and
- Henry Chadwick, a sportswriter who had tirelessly promoted the game in the late 19th century and had been a major force in revision of the rules through several decades. To date he is the only sportswriter (or commentator) to be inducted into the real Hall of Fame (as opposed to the writers' and commentators' "wings").
References
- ^ Considine, Bob (January 19, 1938). "'Old Pete' in Hall of Fame". The Decatur Daily Review. Decatur, Illinois. p. 7. Retrieved October 20, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Old-timers Added to Hall of Fame". The St. Louis Star and Times. UP. September 7, 1938. p. 20. Retrieved October 20, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
External links
- 1938 Election at www.baseballhalloffame