(Pete Rose .org)

The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum is located in Cooperstown, New York State and was established in 1936 and dedicated in 1939, for the purpose of collating and maintaining the history of the game of baseball in the United States. The museum houses a stunning display of baseball artifacts and an exhibition which honours those almost immortal individuals who have contributed to and served the sport with distinction in all areas and who have lived up to the Hall of Fame’s  motto – “Preserving History, Honouring Excellence and Connecting Generations.”

The Hall added an million library and research facility in 1994, and Dale Petroskey became President in 1999. However, as a result of his “failure to exercise appropriate fiduciary responsibility”, he was replaced by Jeff Idelson in 2008.

In 2002, the Hall launched “Baseball as America,” a travelling exhibition which toured and displayed at ten US museums over a period of six years, enabling those who were unable to travel to Cooperstown to view for themselves, the history of the greatest names in baseball. The Hall has also sponsored educational programming on the Internet and, at the annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game, hosts an exhibition at FanFest. The Hall of Fame receives over 350,000 visitors annually and that number grows every year.

In 1936, the first five men honoured by the Hall were Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. And as any red-blooded American will tell you, the Baseball Hall of Fame means far more to fanatical baseball fans than the Cooperstown facility and museum itself! As of early 2011, two hundred and ninety-five individuals have been elected to this hallowed edifice and in July, 2011, Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven and executive Pat Gillick will be inducted.

In addition, two hundred and five players, thirty-five African-American leaguers, nineteen managers and nine umpires have joined them as well as twenty-seven other luminaries who have left their indelible mark on the game of baseball. The Hall of fame has also awarded the Ford C. Frick Award to thirty-four individuals for their excellence in broadcasting and sixty-one other journalists have earned the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for distinction in baseball reporting. These honourees are not members of the Hall of Fame, but are distinguished in a separate display in the Hall’s library.

Selection

Over the years, the manner and criteria used in selecting inductees has changed according to prevailing circumstances at the time. Today, the players are selected for induction by two separate bodies – the Baseball Writers Association of America or the Veterans’ Committee, which currently oversees three separate Committees, each considering and voting for eligible contenders from separate baseball eras. 

This is how it works now; a retired (five years or more) player who has ten or more years in the Major Leagues and who successfully meets the qualifications criteria of the Screening Committee may be elected by those members of the BWAA who have ten or more years’ service. Generally, a short-list of between 25 and 40 candidates is drawn up and each voter may vote once each for the ten candidates possessing the most votes. Any player whose name appears on 75% of the ballots cast will be elected to the Hall of Fame. In 1995, those players who appeared on fewer than 5% of ballots were dropped from all future elections; possibly the thinking was that if he couldn’t make the cut five years after retirement, then he probably never would! These players were considered permanently ineligible; however, in 2001, this rule was modified - their names would not appear on the BWAA ballot, but they could be considered by the Veterans’ Committee.

But, as in everything where there are rules, there were exceptions. Addie Joss was honoured in 1978 although he played only nine seasons, dying of meningitis before he qualified. Robert Clemente died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve, 1972 and the BWAA chose to induct him the following year. Also, if a qualified player dies within five years of his retirement from the game, he may be added to the ballot for the next induction. This five-year delay rule came into being in 1954 as a result of circumstances. As of 1936, every player was eligible, even those who were still active in the game and there was no waiting period after retirement. But BWAA changed the rules, starting with an informal ban on voting for active players in the League – but some of the members did not comply with it, allowing Joe DiMaggio to receive a vote in 1945. So, from 1946 until 1954, the one-year delay was implemented. For example, Joe DiMaggio retired in 1951 and was therefore eligible in 1954. The new five-year rule was passed in 1954, but Joe was inducted into the Hall as a result of his receiving so many votes previously.

Lou Gehrig, “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” met all the required criteria and would have been eligible for the 1939 vote. However, the BWAA made an exception for him by holding a very special one-man election at the 1939 Winter Meetings in Cincinnati, as they were aware that he was terminally ill with ALS and would probably not live to see a later election. As no elections were held in 1941 or 1942, this special election allowed the immortal Lou Gehrig to attend his ceremony and to join his baseball comrades in the Hall of Fame while he still lived.

Here’s where the rules can become confusing! The Hall made some changes in 2007 affecting the Veterans Committee, which was composed of living Hall of Famers. They voted on players who began their baseball careers in 1943 or later. Those changes created three separate committees whose duty it was to select other figures in baseball,

-       the first Committee concerned itself with managers and umpires and voted in every even-numbered year – currently, it has voted twice, once for the 2008 induction and once for 2010;

-       the second Committee voted on baseball executives and builders, also in every even-numbered year and, as above, has only voted twice;

-       the third Committee was established to vote every five years on those players whose careers began in 1942 or before. So far, it has conducted one induction vote only - for 2009.

The Hall of Fame conducted a study in 2005 concerning African American players between the late 19^th century and the integration of the major leagues in 1947. Seventeen figures were selected for a special election in 2006, making a total of thirty-five inductees from the Negro Leagues. From 2010, Negro Leagues figures will be considered for induction together with others from the 1871 – 1946 period which the Hall of Fame now calls the “Pre-Integration Era.”

Bill James’ book “Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?” is a great and required read for any baseball history buff – he gives his frank opinions on who and who should not be in the Hall of Fame thereby adding to the already endless discussions over the worth of various candidates, even those who became Hall of Famers decades ago and continue to excite debate until this day. Long may they continue!