The Hall revamped the Veterans Committee after the 2001 election, primarily because it, both the Board and the constituent honorees, were tired of the format: an unaccountable handful of men, former players and retired executives and olde-tyme writers, horse-trading to put a few names in every year or two. There's more to it, but that's the boiled-down version, and it's not something worth rehashing here.
So the VC was revamped and the electorate expanded, to include all living HOFers (a group hovering in the 60-70 headcount range), all living winners of the Frick and Spink Awards (honored announcers and writers, respectively), and any members of the former VC whose terms had not yet expired. This new VC was given two mandates: vote on retired players every other year, and vote on retired managers and executives every fourth year. And the VC didn't elect any players in 2003 or 2005 or 2007, nor any managers or executives in 2003 or 2007, and neither did it show any promising trends to get around to electing anyone any time soon. So, following the third consecutive shutout in 2007, the Hall bailed on that VC design.
The NEW new Veterans Committee has a diverse membership, but the entire group doesn't vote on any single ballot. The VC now has ownership of four different ballots, each of which has a different relevant electorate. Standard conditions apply -- anyone on baseball's Ineligible List cannot be considered, 75% vote return required for election, etc. With that in mind, let's step through each new ballot.
1. The ballot: "Post-WWII Players" -- retired players who began their major league career in 1943 or later and have passed from BBWAA consideration.
Voting frequency: every other year, beginning 2008 (2009 Induction for electees).
The ballot composition: some details are still vague, but a BBWAA-appointed committee (of indeterminate size) will name 20 candidates. A separate, Hall-appointed committe (consisting of six HOFers) will name five candidates. The two lists are combined (duplicates deleted if necessary) for a draft ballot of 20-25 candidates. The living HOFers then review and cull the draft list down to a final ballot of 10 candidates.
The electorate: the living HOFers (currently 62, following the death of Phil Rizzuto) will vote the ten-candidate ballot, with 75% minimum return needed for election.
The practical upshot: being voted on only by playing peers might finally get Ron Santo the bronze plaque in 2009. I don't expect this ballot will ever elect more than one player per ballot, but I do think it will finally deliver a very select few their key to the Hall. Also, since any player debuting in 1943 would have been born around 1918-25, a window which corresponds to the current oldest HOFers (MacPhail, Feller, Musial), there's the likelihood that at least one voter has first-hand familiarity with anyone on the final ballot, which adds a depth of perspective that a page of stats just cannot provide.
2. The ballot: "Pre-WWII Players" -- retired players who began their major league career before 1943.
Voting frequency: every five years, beginning in 2008 (2009 Induction; next would be 2013 for 2014 Induction).
The ballot composition: uncertain, but likely to be crafted by a multiple-iteration review process by one or more Hall-appointed committees, which is how the Hall likes to do these things. Size of the final ballot unspecified, but probably no more than ten.
The electorate: a special committee of 12 members (HOFers, writers, and historians), appointed by the Hall Board.
The practical upshot: provides a lasting albeit very narrow doorway for olde-tymers to earn the plaque, if some lost diamond hero is uncovered or deeper research reveals some overlooked star. As I think by now there are very few remaining injustices across the long reach of history (not named Santo), I cannot imagine who might be identified for the ballot, let alone get elected. Looking back to the 2007 VC ballot, the oldest players by debut were Carl Mays (1915) and Lefty O'Doul (1919), good players but clearly not Hall caliber (and the vote return validated this). The oldest debut player that I liked for the Hall was Joe Gordon (1938). The historical research continues, and while the statistics are available for everyone maybe yet some name will jump out, but I just don't think there's any players buried in the deeps of time that really, really demand induction. This ballot seems part safety valve, part feel-good (door not locked forever), part old horse-tradin' style Veterans Committee (or at least could become abused in such a manner; 12 voters is a small enough group in which one or two proponents could wield substantial influence). Well, we'll just have to see. The five-year interval certainly makes it not a priority ballot.
3. The ballot: "Managers and Umpires" -- just what it says, though I find this a very curious pairing.
Voting frequency: every other year, beginning 2007 (2008 Induction for electees). Ballot results to be announced December 3 (whether only inductee names or actual voting totals is not yet clear).
The ballot composition: an 11-member, BBWAA-appointed committee of writers crafted the ballot of ten total candidates of retired managers and umpires. (The 2007 ballot happens to have seven managers and three umpires.) The writers who contributed to the 2007 ballot: Dave Van Dyck, Bob Elliott, Rick Hummell, Steve Hirdt, Moss Klein, Bill Madden, Ken Nigro, Jack O'Connell, Nick Peters, Tracy Ringolsby, and Mark Whicker. (It's nice to know the committee members, though I don't think it's all that important, unless someone wants to write to one or more and tell them how good or bad a job they did on crafting the ballot. At least we know who they are.)
The electorate: a 16-member committee appointed by the Hall, each for a term of one year (which is renewable). Electors may cast as many as four votes, with no write-ins. For the 2007 ballot the committee includes HOFers (Aaron, Bunning, Gibson, Jenkins, Kaline, Lasorda, Niekro, Perez, Weaver, and Billy Williams), executives (Jim Frey (retired), Roland Hemond, Bob Watson), and writers (Jack O'Connell, Tim Kurkjian, Tom Verducci). I don't like O'Connell being on both the ballot committee and the election committee as a matter of principle, but he's the only one, so I'll let that pass.
The practical upshot: Interesting that this committee is player-heavy (eight, nine counting Lasorda), plus two managers (one legendary for mixing it up with umpires), so at first glance any umpire candidate is doomed; but perhaps not. I see little need for the Hall to recognize umpires, but that'll be up to the committee.
4. The ballot: "Executives" (edit: the background issue appears to be fixed) -- anyone who did something for baseball in an office, unless there's a better definition, who is either retired or active and over age 65.
Voting frequency: every other year, beginning 2007 (2008 Induction for electees). Ballot results to be announced December 3 (whether only inductee names or actual voting totals is not yet clear).
The ballot composition: an Executive Voting Committee developed a ballot of ten candidates.
The electorate: a 12-member committee appointed by the Hall Board, each for a term of one year (which is renewable). Electors may cast as many as four votes, with no write-ins. For the 2007 ballot the committee includes HOFers (Irvin, Killebrew), executives (Bobby Brown (retired), John Harrington (retired), Jerry Bell, Bill DeWitt, Bill Giles, David Glass, Andy MacPhail), and writers (Paul Hagen, Rick Hummell, Hal McCoy).
The practical upshot: I don't see a lot of need for executives to get plaques either, as most of the true pioneers and visionaries have already been inducted. There is one enormous oversight, however -- former players union executive director Marvin Miller. With a player-heavy electorate, he'd have waltzed in by now; but with this owner/general manager dominated electorate, first impression is that he has no chance whatsoever (I cannot imagine former Wal-mart CEO David Glass ever voting for someone who not only worked for a union, but forged it into the strongest labor union the country has ever seen). Election from this ballot takes nine of 12; even with the players and writers on his side (no sure thing), Miller would still need a majority of the executives, four of seven. I could rave about Miller for pages, but the short version is that no one, no one, has had a greater or more lasting positive impact on the business of baseball than he, and that is exactly the sort of contribution that the Hall should seek to honor. Putting Miller before this electorate is either inept consideration or deliberate relegation from him having a legitmate candidacy, neither of which reflects well on the Hall or its new VC policies. Marvin Miller is without a doubt the most worthy person of the Hall who is not yet in, and making him stand before an electorate which is composed of present and former office-holders who would consider him an enemy is profoundly cruel. One can almost smell the conspiracy of "let's never let Marvin Miller get a plaque", and denying this man's historical impact on the great game is a disservice to everyone.
But then again, maybe he'll get elected. He surely deserves it, and I'd like him to be alive (he's in his 90s) when the election announcement comes.
Final comment: by expanding the mandate of the Veterans Committee and breaking its purview into four parts, each with a smaller electorate than before and a smaller ballot, the chances of this VC edition electing someone, anyone, from at least one ballot is better than it was during the 2003-07 approach. While I think that electing no one is a very valid result, the Hall (and the city of Cooperstown) has vested interest in seeing at least one person (preferably someone living) starring in the annual induction ceremony every summer -- and with Steroids Era candidates coming up in recent years (and Canseco already relegated -- not that he was Hall worthy, but he got clobbered on the ballot return), chances for many potential 1990s-window candidates are looking uncertain but dodgy. This multi-track Veterans Committee should, I think, put one or two people (or descendants thereof) on the podium, and this is a happier outcome than a perpetual "no, no one this year" response.
Coming very soon, reviews of the candidates on the Managers & Umpires and Executives ballots.
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