The Hall Revamps the Veterans Committee Once Again

On Monday, the National Baseball Hall Of Fame and Museum announced yet another reconstruction of the Veterans Committee, making this the third overhaul of the VC since 2003.

Part 1 - Recent History

Through 2001, the VC met every year (a format which had been in effect for many years). As many as fifteen committee members -- former players, veteran writers, executives -- would debate behind closed doors who should be inducted. This edition of the VC had no public accountability; voting results were never released, only the names of the elected. The 2001 voting cycle named two new HOFers -- old time Negro Leagues star Hilton Smith, and 1960 World Series hero Bill Mazeroski.

The living HOFers discreetly voiced displeasure over Maz joining their ranks, as he was never much of a hitter, though his Series-winning home run in Game 7 gave him very high visibility. I didn't have issue with Mazeroski's election, as he was sterling on defense, and the Hall must include some honorees based upon their defensive skill (or else it is failing in its mission). Still, the Hall's powers-that-be paid attention, and decided to scrap the existing VC in favor of a new format.

Good riddance.

Starting in 2003, the new VC was tasked with two ballots -- one for former players (who had had their BBWAA ballot eligibility expire), and one for non-players. The players ballot was voted every two years, and the non-players every four years, by an electorate consisting of all living HOFers and living Spink or Frick Award winners, a population of around 80. A ballot return of 75% or more was needed to gain induction (one guideline the Hall steadfastly maintains). This format endured through 2007. Let's review the results.

Honorees elected:
2003 players -- none.
2003 non-players -- none.
2005 players -- none.
2007 players -- none.
2007 non-players -- none.

Clearly this version of the VC was serving the same purpose as having no committee at all, which may have been preferable and certainly would have been less expensive to convene.

For reference, the top vote returns from each of the five ballots.

2003 players -- Gil Hodges (50, 61.7%), Tony Oliva, Ron Santo.
2005 players -- Hodges and Santo (52, 65.0%), Oliva.
2007 players -- Santo (57, 69.5%), Jim Kaat, Hodges (Oliva was fourth).

2003 non-players -- umpire Doug Harvey (48, 60.8%), owner Walter O'Malley, union executive Marvin Miller.
2007 non-players -- Harvey (52, 64.2%), Miller, O'Malley.

Obviously frustrated -- no one should get a free pass into the Hall, but the Veterans Committee should elect someone once in a while -- the Hall dumped this format after the 2007 ballot results were announced, and enacted a new format to start later that year, to consider candidates for the 2008 voting cycle.

This newer VC was tasked with four ballot categories: Executives & Pioneers, Managers & Umpires, old time players (made their major league debut in 1942 or earlier), and modern era players (debuted 1943 or later). Each ballot, when composed, had ten candidates; voters could select up to four candidates. Two ballots, M&U and E&P, were to be voted every other year, beginning in 2008, with separate electorates (committes of 16 for M&U, 12 for E&P). Modern era players were to be voted every other year, beginning in 2009, the electorate composed of all living Hall Of Fame honorees. The old time players ballot were to be voted every fifth year, beginning in 2009, with an electoral committee of 12.

Happily, this format did elect some new Hall Of Famers. How well a job it did of it is debatable. The results:

2008 Managers & Umpires -- manager Billy Southworth, manager Dick Williams.
2008 Executives & Pioneers -- owner Barney Dreyfuss, commissioner Bowie Kuhn, owner Walter O'Malley.
2009 Old Time Players -- Joe Gordon.
2009 Modern Era Players -- none (top return: Santo, 39, 60.9%).
2010 Managers & Umpires -- umpire Doug Harvey, manager Whitey Herzog.
2010 Executives & Pioneers -- none.

Personally, I was delighted at Gordon getting honored, ambivalent on most of the others (I see little need for umpires or owners to be recognized as Hall honorees, but those are long-established eligible categories), and thought electing Kuhn was a disaster.

The biggest flaw, to me and possibly to the Hall's Board of Directors, was that the modern era ballot, the one tasked to the living HOFers, continued to refuse to elect anyone. Perhaps they simply do not want to share their spotlight, not even a little, in which case they made for a poor choice of electorate, since their voting responsibilities were in conflict with their personal interests. Electing no one is a valid result, but one that makes for very uninteresting induction ceremonies in Cooperstown every summer.

So the Hall dumped the Veterans Committee yet again. Let's check out the new kid.

Part 2 -- the even newer Veterans Committee

The VC now consists of three different ballots, differentiated by historical era. Each ballot can have a composite of candidates among any of the Hall's recognized eligible categories: players, managers, umpires, executives, and pioneers.

The three eras are identified as Pre-Integration (1871-1946), Golden (1947-72), and Expansion (1973-present, with player candidates required to have last played 21 years earlier). Inclusion within an era is based upon "the eras in which their greatest contributions were recorded".

The Expansion ballot will have 12 candidates. The Pre-Integration and Golden ballots will have ten candidates each. (This seems fair; more teams in recent decades should give rise to more quality candidates.)

Eligibility is pretty much what the Hall mandates already. Everyone must be in good standing (not ruled ineligible) by a major league (which, today, is only Major League Baseball, but there have been recognized major leagues in the past). Players and managers must have had relevant careers of at least ten major league seasons. Players must have last played 21 years prior (for the 2010 Expansion ballot, this means 1989) -- in other words, players whose eligibility for the BBWAA ballot has expired. Managers must be retired for five years, or retired and older than age 65. Executives must be retired five years, or if active, age 65 or more.

The voting cycle will see the Expansion ballot voted in 2010, the Golden ballot in 2011, and the Pre-Integration ballot in 2012. After that, either the rotation will continue, or the Hall will scrap this edition of the VC in favor of something else once again.

Voting will be done at the annual Winter Meetings in early December, with results announced the next day. The electoral committee will be appointed by the Hall BoD each year, a total of 16 members (so 12 votes needed for election), consisting of Hall Of Famers, major league executives, and historians or veteran media members. The annual ballots will be compiled by the Historical Overview Committee (currently 10 senior writers or media members), and announced in October.

And that's how the Veterans Committee is now set up.

Part 3 -- What Does It Mean?

I'm okay with the breakdown by historical era -- it's gotta work better than the previous format did, dividing the ballots by candidate category and the players by time. The defined break times don't make perfect sense, however.

The Pre-Integration era -- which is just a nice way of saying "Segregation" without having to admit to it -- ends just before Jackie Robinson steamrolled the color barrier. Certainly that was a watershed event, but in the context of delineating the VC's ballot eras, so what? It's as good as anything else, I suppose. No real objection here, just not seeing that it makes any difference than, say, 1920 (end of Deadball) or 1935 (Ruth retires) or any other arbitrary year more than a half-century ago.

The Golden era is simply a ham-handed name selection. Sure, some consider 1947-72 a golden era, particularly those who followed baseball in New York City. But that's an opinion, not a definable baseball theme of the time. "Relocation" would better nail it, though I can see how "Golden" would more pacify than aggravate the Brooklyn Dodgers fans still among us.

The Expansion era time break makes no sense at all, other than maybe the Golden era needed to be at least 25 years (it covers 26) and this one just followed on from that. The name then doesn't well fit, since the first expansion teams took the field in 1961 (Angels and Senators). The name doesn't really matter, but it's not capturing a dominant baseball theme of the defined era. (The biggest story in the game in 1973 was the American League adding the designated hitter, but as with relocation, one can easily see how naming a ballot something like "The DH Era" would only serve to annoy the more hidebound among the fans and media.) This era will get longer in time, of course, if the Hall keeps this VC format, but right now it only provides 17 seasons for players.

The composition of the annual electoral committees, unknown today, will have a huge impact on who, if anyone, ends up getting elected to the Hall through these various ballots.

Part 4 -- So Who Will Be The Candidates?

The quick expectation is "the usual gang of suspects".

Since these will be composite ballots, anyone could show up, though I expect each ballot will be heavily populated by players.

For the Pre-Integration ballot, which we won't see until 2012, there probably will be several retreads from the 2009 old timer ballot, nine of whom did not get elected -- Allie Reynolds, Wes Ferrell, Mickey Vernon, Deacon White, Bucky Walters, Sherry Magee, Bill Dahlen, Carl Mays, Vern Stephens. The Hall never implemented a relegation mechanism on the ballots of the previous VC, a way of forcing electoral deadwood out of consideration for a cycle or two, so some of these old favorites will likely pop up yet again. Pity, really.

Let's apply the same standard to the Golden and Expansion era hypothetical ballots -- who was left over from the previous ballots?

Golden era (1947-72) players -- Ron Santo (yay!), Tony Oliva, Gil Hodges, Joe Torre, Maury Wills, Vada Pinson, Dick Allen, Don Newcombe, Roger Maris, Curt Flood, Minnie Minoso, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Frank Howard, Rusty Staub, Lew Burdette, Jim Perry, Mickey Lolich, Dave McNally, probably Jim Kaat.

Expansion era (1973-89) players -- Al Oliver, Luis Tiant, Thurman Munson, Sparky Lyle, Darrell Evans, Frank White, Graig Nettles, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Cecil Cooper, Bill Madlock, Dave Kingman, Amos Otis, Dave Concepcion, Tommy John, Bob Forsch, Joe Niekro, Ron Guidry. (Dwight Evans would not qualify until the 2013 ballot, if there is one. Same for Dan Quisenberry.)

There's plenty of other potential candidates, but likely many of them are listed here.

Those are two groups of good players, but other than Santo, I don't see any name that clearly stands up and proclaims itself to be Hall worthy. Many have their proponents, and I won't debate any of these men here -- that's for another time. It will be nice, however, to see some of them get another chance, particularly those who were sorely underappreciated in their own time.

What about non-players? There's only three names that leap to the fore: manager Billy Martin, recently deceased Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, and MLBPA director Marvin Miller. I'm not in favor of Martin, but he has enough advocates that his candidacy hangs on with impressive tenacity no matter how dismal his vote returns. I am fully in favor of Miller, one of the seminal transformative figures throughout baseball history. Steinbrenner -- I don't know, I haven't really considered him in detail yet. Certainly he had significant impact during his tenure, and reviewing other team owners already in the Hall, he's probably a better potential honoree than any of them. I expect he will be on the 2010 Expansion era ballot, but cannot possibly predict his voting outcome. Steinbrenner was outrageous in every sense of the word, and surely unforgettable. I won't be surprised if he does get the plaque.

If the Hall really takes the initiative and nominates any pioneer candidates -- and they've been rare -- I'd like to see Dr. Frank Jobe, developer of the ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction procedure, better known as Tommy John surgery, get on the ballot this fall. He'd be a brilliant addition to the Hall's rolls. I doubt he'll stand as a candidate, but it would be a bold move if he did.

So that's that. The Hall is rolling the Veterans Committee dice once again. Let's see what happens.