Womack: Hall of Fame’s veteran voting system could keep qualified candidates out
From SABR member Graham Womack at The Sporting News on December 6, 2016:
The Baseball Hall of Fame welcomed its newest prospective members Sunday, with the Today’s Game Committee voting in former MLB commissioner Bud Selig and longtime Atlanta Braves executive John Schuerholz.
None of the other eight candidates on the ballot got more than seven votes, not that anyone should have expected a stampede of inductions.
Since 2002, what’s casually known as the Veterans Committee has met on an irregular basis, never voting on the same era of players in consecutive years. During this time, the committee has enshrined just three players: Joe Gordon in 2009, Ron Santo in 2012 and Deacon White in 2013.
By contrast, between 1960 and 2001, when the committee met every year, it enshrined 77 players, or nearly two per year on average.
Read the full article here: http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/news/baseball-hall-of-fame-veteran-voting-system-changes-backlog/1556wo5qsmonz1bzb08c1e0to0
Originally published: December 6, 2016. Last Updated: December 6, 2016.