The Hall's 2010 VC Executives (& Pioneers) Ballot

The Baseball Hall Of Fame has released the ballots for consideration by various parts of the Veterans Committee for 2010 induction.

Of the ten candidates on the 2008 Executives ballot (voted in December 2007), three were elected. Six of the other seven return for re-consideration on this cycle, and one candidate returns from an earlier non-player voting cycle. With only three new faces, reviewing the candidates should go quickly.

Candidates who have been considered previously by any version of the Veterans Committee since 2003 -- when VC voting results were first released (prior editions of the VC simply announced the names of electees) -- have their prior voting returns noted.

The "Connections" category indicates where the candidate has a direct, past working relationship with one or more voters (this does not apply to all candidates). The Executives (& Umpires) committee has 12 electors; the Hall considers them demographically to be two Hall players, three writers, and seven past or present executives. While players and field managers might develop close relationships, executives tend to be at a further remove from the men in uniform, but the people in the front offices run into each other all the time. So, while several voters might know any candidate professionally, I tried to find instances where there may have been closer quarters between any voter and candidate. I think this adds perspective to how the voters might approach the candidates, if they really liked (or despised) someone they know personally from being on the same team. The 2010 committee voters are: HOFers Robin Roberts and Tom Seaver, executives John Harrington, Jerry Bell, Bill DeWitt, Bill Giles, David Glass, Andy MacPhail, and John Schuerholz, and writers Rick Hummell, Hal McCoy, and Phil Pepe.

Voting results will be announced on December 7.


Here are the ten candidates on the Executives (& Pioneers) ballot, in the traditional alphabetical order. (I cannot find or recall any reference to this ballot being called the Executives & Pioneers ballot during the 2008 voting cycle, though it is so named now, which seems silly and pointless as there are no Pioneer candidates included. Perhaps, however, this will finally open a doorway for some as-yet-unrecognized worthy people, including Dr. Frank Jobe, developer and continuing master of the ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction technique, better known for its first test subject -- Tommy John surgery. Jobe's impact with this procedure has been monumental, and recognition by the Hall would be a good idea.)

1. Gene Autry (Wiki bio)

Personal status: deceased.

Veterans Committee rookie candidate.

Claims to fame: founding owner of the Los Angeles/California Angels, from 1960 (the team first took the field in 1961) until his death in 1998. The Angels have retired jersey #26 in honor of Autry, as the "26th man" on the team.

Autry was a generous man with his baseball team, but the Angels just plugged along, never seeming to have a coherent strategy for winning a championship. Expansion teams are tough to mold into winning form, particularly in the pre-free agency days, and it took the Angels 19 seasons to finally make it to October. And, worse, in three postseason appearances (1979, '82, '86), the Angels never once advanced to the World Series, though they did bring home a trophy (2002) after he passed on.

Autry was also well-known as The Singing Cowboy, a star of radio and screen, who gave us hit songs like "Back In The Saddle Again" and, his biggest seller, "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", still popular to this day. Autry certainly had fame in his lifetime, but had the Angels owner been, oh, real estate magnate Joe Jones or captain of industry Sam Smith, and sent the Angels along the same, largely aimless path, neither Jones nor Smith would be on this ballot. I'm sure Autry was a nice man and is still missed, but his baseball career was not really what the Hall looks for.

Chipmaker's vote: No.


2. Sam Breadon (Wiki bio)

Personal status: deceased.

Veterans Committee rookie candidate.

Claims to fame: owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, 1920-47.

Under Breadon's flag, the Cardinals rose to power, developing the farm system, bringing home six World Series championships (1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946) and three other National League pennants (1928, 1930, 1943). But the best thing Breadon did during his tenure was keep Branch Rickey on staff and let him do as he would -- Rickey gets the credit for the farm system, player acquisitions, just about everything. Breadon was one of the best types of owners -- he usually got out of the way of the smart baseball people he employed -- but that doesn't raise him up to Hall class.

Chipmaker's vote: No.


3. John Fetzer (Wiki bio)

Personal status: deceased.

Reviewed on 2008 ballot.

2008 VC ballot: 33.3% (4 of 12 votes).

Claims to fame: owner of the Detroit Tigers (minority 1956-60, controlling 1961-83), including the 1968 World Series champion team. Used his expertise in radio and television broadcasting to negotiate national contracts for MLB.

Fetzer was a good-guy owner, but with the emergence of the players union under Marvin Miller during this time, it wasn't a good era to be an owner. Fetzer put some good teams on the diamond but his baseball career lacks anything proclaiming him as having been Hall measure.

Chipmaker's vote: No.


4. Bob Howsam (Wiki bio)

Personal status: deceased.

Reviewed on 2008 ballot.

2008 VC ballot: 25.0% (3 of 12 votes).

Connections: traded for Seaver (1977).

Claims to fame: general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals (1964-66) and the Cincinnati Reds (1967-78 -- the Big Red Machine era -- and 1983-84). Got his start running the minor league Denver Bears from 1947-62. Co-founded the Continental League in 1959, which inspired MLB to undergo expansion in the 1960s.

Howsam added the final parts to the Big Red Machine (World Series championships in 1975-76, NL pennants in 1970 & '72, NL West champions in 1973; NL MVP Awards by Bench '70 & '72, Rose '73, Morgan '75-76, Foster '77), one of the great dynasty teams of modern times. Got out of the general managing business just as free agency was beginning to influence how front offices do their jobs. A long and good career, but no greatness or clever innovation such as the Hall seeks to honor.

Chipmaker's vote: No.


5. Ewing Kauffman (Wiki bio)

Personal status: deceased.

Reviewed on 2008 ballot.

2008 VC ballot: 41.7% (5 of 12 votes).

Connections: employed John Schuerholz as the Royals GM for ten years, 1981-90.

Claims to fame: founding owner of the Kansas City Royals until his death, 1969-93, including the 1985 World Series champion team. Hired and encouraged unconventional thinkers, trying to find innovative ways to approach baseball and build winning teams consistently; one initiative was the Royals' baseball academies in other countries. Got a new ballpark built for his team, and on his deathbed, acquiesced to have it renamed after him (he didn't want that, but his wife reminded him that it wasn't just a building, but one with a baseball diamond inside). The Royals continue to play in Kauffman Stadium today.

A pharmaceuticals billionaire and a generous philanthropist, Kauffman was a genuinely good man. He returned baseball to Kansas City after the Athletics left in 1967, not because he loved the game, but because he loved his city. He was more than a good team owner; he was a good man. Kauffman's dedication to his city and committment to great baseball sets him above others. (Comparing the Royals' results since Kauffman's death puts the contrast between Good Owner and Bad Owner into sharp relief.) Ewing Kauffman is almost too good for the Hall -- but it's the highest honor baseball can give him.

Chipmaker's vote: Yes.


6. John McHale (Wiki bio / playing record)

Personal status: deceased.

Reviewed on 2008 ballot.

2008 VC ballot: ≤16.7% (<3 of 12 votes).

Claims to fame: McHale was general manager of the Detroit Tigers (1957-58), Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1959-66), and Montréal Expos (1978-84), as well as the first president of the Expos (1969-86)

Baseball bonus points: McHale was a player for five seasons (1943-45, '47-48) for the Detroit Tigers. At first baseman when he played the field, he was primarily a spare part on the bench. A member of the 1945 World Series champion team.

McHale was a baseball lifer, always in a front office. His Braves tenure came just after the team had peaked and Milwaukee was starting to lose interest; they moved on to Atlanta, rendering McHale's efforts discouraging. Canada was more fertile, and McHale built the only Expos postseason team (1981). The Hall looks for more than good work, however, and McHale's career didn't reach greatness.

Chipmaker's vote: No.


7. Marvin Miller (Wiki bio)

Personal status: living, will turn 93 in April 2010, and apparently in good health. Certainly still opinionated.

Reviewed on 2008 ballot.

2003 VC ballot: 44.3% (35 of 79 votes).
2007 VC ballot: 63.0% (51 of 81 votes).
2008 VC ballot: 25.0% (3 of 12 votes).

Connections: Roberts was one of the players who hired Miller. Nearly all of Seaver's career overlapped Miller's time at the Major League Baseball Players Association. As owner of the Phillies starting in 1981, Bill Giles certainly got to know of Miller and what he did and could do.

Claims to fame: Miller was the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, typically called the players union, from 1966-84. I have written, and written, and written, and written, and written more in support of Marvin Miller for the Hall, so I'll just sum up.

Marvin Miller brought baseball labor relations into the 20th century, made conditions much better for all players, and most importantly, broke the reserve clause and opened the door for free agency. Miller's work has had profound and enduring impact on the game, and mostly in good ways.

Marvin Miller made baseball better, which only a handful of others across the reach of the game's history could stand beside with equivalent degree. That is exactly the sort of contribution to the game of baseball that the Hall should seek to honor.

Marvin Miller is The Most Worthy Person Not In The Hall.

But again this will not matter. Miller's candidacy will stand before another electorate, a committee of twelve, which has a majority of owners or their representatives. They know the impact and historic import Miller owns, but he earned undying enmity for his works. To these people, Miller is the adversary -- and the Hall powers-that-be must know this, and simply do not care. Miller deserves the plaque, but his candidacy before this electorate is farce, folly, and futility.

Miller even requested that the Hall not consider him further. The Hall ineffably ignored this, and stood him again.

I give up. Hey, why not? Miller already has. He knows a snow job when he sees one.

Chipmaker's vote: Yes! Vote him in, you petty, meretricious bastards.


8. Gabe Paul (Wiki bio)

Personal status: deceased.

Reviewed on 2008 ballot.

2003 VC ballot: 16.5% (13 of 79 votes).
2007 VC ballot: 12.3% (10 of 81 votes).
2008 VC ballot: ≤16.7% (<3 of 12 votes).

Claims to fame: Paul was general manager of the Cincinnati Reds (1951-60), Houston Colt .45s (1961, before the team took the field), and Cleveland Indians (1961-72). He moved to the New York Yankees as president and general manager (1973-77), rebuilding the game's most storied franchise back to championship level, winning the 1977 World Series. Paul was again GM for the Indians (1978-84) before retiring.

Paul was a baseball lifer who contributed to interesting developments in the game over the decades, the 1969 divisional realignment included, but a long and good career off the field doesn't really measure up to Hall standards. Previous ballot returns agree with this view.

Chipmaker's vote: No.


9. "Colonel" Jacob Ruppert (Wiki bio)

Personal status: deceased.

Veterans Committee rookie candidate.

Claims to fame: Ruppert was owner of the New York Yankees until his death (1915-39), a tenure that included seven World Series championships (1923, 1927-28, 1932, 1936-38, and they won in 1939 after he died) and three other American League pennants (1921-22, 1926). Built and debuted Yankee Stadium (1923).

Typically I have little interest in owners, as their biggest influence tends to be paying the salaries and the bills. They should hire good baseball people and get out of their way -- but few really do, as they are hands-on folks. There's probably more owners in the Hall than there should be, and while I would like to see Kauffman added to the rolls, I cannot think of another owner in recent times that I would likewise support (possibly Steinbrenner or Henry; Selig is probably inevitable, due to his tenure as commissioner). Ruppert, though, didn't just put forth a winning team, he put forth a dynasty -- THE Dynasty, the Murderer's Row Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig and Lazzeri and, later, DiMaggio. And he paid for his own ballpark, which today would be almost quaint if not actively albeit discreetly discouraged by MLB's powers-that-be. If ever a team owner deserves election to the Hall, Ruppert is a darn good choice.

Chipmaker's vote: Yes.


10. Bill White (Wiki bio / playing record)

Personal status: living, will turn 76 in January 2010.

Reviewed on 2007 ballot.

2003 VC ballot: 27.8% (22 of 79 votes).
2007 VC ballot: 29.6% (24 of 81 votes).

Connections: as NL president, White certainly would have interacted with Phillies owner Bill Giles.

Claims to fame: President of the National League, 1989-94. Longtime broadcaster for the New York Yankees alongside Phil Rizzuto, 1971-89.

Baseball bonus points: White was a player for 13 seasons (1956, '58-69) for the New York/San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies. A first baseman, White won seven Gold Gloves and was an All-Star selection eight times (three starts). A member of the 1964 World Series champion Cardinals.

Bill White is a nice guy, one of those "ambassadors for the game" we hear about now and then. He was president of the NL at a time when then-Acting Commissioner Selig was working on phasing out the position (as well as the AL presidency) and consolidating operations between both leagues (White was the second-to-last NL prez; the position was eliminated in 1999). And he was a good player, though well short of Hall-class. A bunch of roles in which he did well but never achieved greatness cannot sum up to overall greatness, and therefore falls short of Hall standard.

Chipmaker's vote: No.


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Summary of Chipmaker's Yes votes: Kauffman, Miller, and Ruppert.

If I could vote for only one: Miller.