1949 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting


Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1949 followed the rules in place since 1947, which had governed two successful elections of recent players. The Baseball Writers' Association of America voted by mail to select from players retired less than 25 years, with provision for a runoff in case of no winner. This year the runoff was necessary to elect one person, Charlie Gehringer. Meanwhile, the Old-Timers Committee, which met on no schedule and not since 1946, responded again to the continuing calls for election of more of the game's earlier stars. It selected Mordecai Brown and Kid Nichols.
An induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on June 13, 1949, for inductees of both 1948 and 1949. Of the five total inductees, Kid Nichols and Pie Traynor attended, while Charlie Gehringer was unable to attend. Mordecai Brown and Herb Pennock had both died in 1948. Dignitaries present included National League president Ford Frick, Hall of Fame founder Stephen Carlton Clark, Hall of Fame president Bob Quinn, and Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey.

BBWAA election

Initial ballot

The 10-year members of the BBWAA had the authority to select any players active in 1924 or later, provided they had not been active in 1948. Voters were instructed to cast votes for 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. If no candidate received votes on 75% of the ballots, the top 20 candidates would advance to a runoff election.
A total of 153 ballots were cast, with 1,409 individual votes for 98 specific candidates, an average of 9.21 per ballot; 115 votes were required for election. The results were announced in February 1949. For the first time in three elections following the most recent format change, no candidate received 75% of the vote, and a runoff was necessary.
As had been true the previous year, a large number of players received votes, though few players were named who had not appeared in the 1948 vote apart from the newly eligible 1947 retirees ; every still-eligible player who received more than 2 votes in 1948 was again named. 66 of those named received votes on less than 5% of the ballots, with 28 receiving only a single vote; every candidate had been eligible at some point in the pastfor some, the 1936 election in which active players were eligible.
, Hall of Famer and 2-time MVP
Greenberg's eligibility was questioned by some voters, as he had been listed on the Cleveland Indians' active roster for part of the 1948 season as a precautionary move against injuries to other players. However, he was removed from the active roster once it became clear that his position as an Indians executive precluded any playing role, and he did not appear in any games; nonetheless, some voters maintained that his inclusion on the roster made him an active player and thus ineligible for election in 1949.
Once again, the focus was now on the most recent players; those who had retired before 1932 receded even further in the voting. Only 2 of the top 22 candidates, and none of the top 15, had retired before 1932; 12 of the 20 players reaching the runoff had been active in 1941 or later. Of the 98 players named, only 24 retired before 1930; they received only 9% of the vote. Three players who had retired before 1924 and were officially ineligible nevertheless received a single vote each; this was a notable reduction from the previous year's total of 23 votes for such now-ineligible candidates. Votes for those best known as managers again appeared, though only for those who were eligible as players and not to the same extent as in 1948, perhaps due to an expectation of more selections from the Old-Timers Committee.
Chief Bender, who was technically eligible due to a single inning pitched in 1925, received only 2 votes – a continued drop from his past prominence on the ballot; as with the previous election, it seems either that most voters were unaware of his eligibility or that they viewed it as irrelevant to the spirit of the rules. There was also some confusion as to the cutoff year for eligibility; some writers believed it to be 1927 or 1928 rather than 1924. Dizzy Dean, whose eligibility in 1948 had been questioned due to a single appearance in a 1947 game, returned to the same level he had attained in the 1947 election. Unlike the 1948 election, no players active in the previous year received votes.
The top 20 candidates, who had each received 20 or more votes, advanced to the runoff election; candidates who have since been
selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics:
PlayerVotesPercentChange
Charlie Gehringer10266.7 23.7%
Mel Ott9461.4-
Al Simmons8958.2 8.6%
Dizzy Dean8857.5 24.4%
Jimmie Foxx8555.6 14.3%
Bill Terry8152.9 9.9%
Paul Waner7347.7 5.6%
Hank Greenberg6743.8-
Bill Dickey6542.5 10.3%
Harry Heilmann5938.6 5.5%
Rabbit Maranville5837.9 6.5%
Gabby Hartnett3522.9 4.4%
Joe Cronin3321.6 0.9%
Dazzy Vance3321.6 2.6%
Ted Lyons2919.0 6.6%
Ray Schalk2415.7 2.5%
Hack Wilson2415.7 14.0%
Red Ruffing2214.4 11.1%
Tony Lazzeri2013.1 4.3%
Ross Youngs2013.1 2.6%
Lefty Gomez1711.1 2.1%
Pepper Martin1610.5 4.7%
Zack Wheat159.8 2.6%
Edd Roush149.2 4.8%
Max Carey127.8 0.4%
Bucky Harris117.2 4.7%
Hank Gowdy106.5 4.0%
Charlie Grimm106.5 1.5%
Chuck Klein95.9 3.4%
Jim Bottomley85.2 1.9%
Burleigh Grimes85.2-
Stuffy McInnis85.2 1.1%
Jimmy Dykes74.6 0.5%
Waite Hoyt74.6 1.2%
Billy Southworth74.6-
Earle Combs63.9 1.1%
Red Faber63.9 1.4%
Travis Jackson63.9 0.2%
Steve O'Neill63.9 2.2%
Jimmie Wilson63.9 2.7%
Babe Adams53.3
Dave Bancroft53.3
Babe Herman53.3 1.6%
Wilbur Cooper42.6 0.9%
Kiki Cuyler42.6 0.1%
Goose Goslin42.6 1.8%
Stan Hack42.6 0.9%
Mel Harder42.6-
Rube Marquard42.6 2.4%
Lefty O'Doul42.6 0.7%
Eppa Rixey42.6 1.5%
Stan Coveleski32.0 0.3%
Bob Meusel32.0 3.0%
Sam Rice32.0 1.2%
Everett Scott32.0 0.5%
Casey Stengel32.0 1.2%
Lloyd Waner32.0-
Chief Bender21.3 2.8%
Joe Dugan21.3 1.2%
George Earnshaw21.3 1.2%
Freddie Fitzsimmons21.3 0.4%
Charlie Gelbert21.3-
Chick Hafey21.3 0.5%
Jesse Haines21.3 0.4%
Billy Jurges21.3-
Red Lucas21.3-
Eddie Rommel21.3 1.2%
Urban Shocker21.3 0.5%
Lon Warneke21.3-
Cy Williams21.3 0.5%
Earl Averill10.7-
Ossie Bluege10.7 1.0%
Ping Bodie10.7-
George Burns10.7-
Ben Chapman10.7-
Spud Davis10.7 0.1%
Leo Durocher10.7 0.1%
Howard Ehmke10.7-
Wes Ferrell10.7 0.1%
Art Fletcher10.7 1.8%
Joe Judge10.7-
George Kelly10.7 1.0%
Dickey Kerr10.7-
Freddie Lindstrom10.7-
Al López10.7-
Heinie Manush10.7 0.1%
Buddy Myer10.7-
Art Nehf10.7-
Roger Peckinpaugh10.7-
Hub Pruett10.7-
Jimmy Ring10.7-
Charlie Root10.7 1.8%
George Selkirk10.7-
Bill Sherdel10.7 0.1%
Fred Toney10.7-
Billy Werber10.7-
Whitey Witt10.7-
Glenn Wright10.7 1.0%

Players who were elected in future elections. These individuals are also indicated in plain italics.

Runoff election

From the 20 final candidates listed on the ballot, voters were instructed to cast votes for five; they were aware of the totals from the first election. Any candidates receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be elected and honored with induction to the Hall. A total of 187 ballots were cast, with 920 individual votes for the 20 candidates, an average of 4.92 per ballot; 141 votes were required for election. The results were announced on May 5; exactly one player reached the threshold of 75% and was therefore elected.
The more recent players once again figured more prominently in the voting, with the top 6 candidates retired less than 7 years. There was much criticism from those who disliked the runoff process, believing it amounted to two virtually identical elections in a row; with the candidates finishing in roughly the same order both times, many voters felt they were essentially being encouraged to vote for the top candidates from the first ballot in order to ensure at least one selection. As a result, the rules were again revised by the Hall of Fame Committee, and the runoff procedure was eliminated after 1949; it would not be reinstated until after the 1960 election.
The induction ceremonies were held in Cooperstown on June 13, with Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey officiating. The two 1948 selectees being formally inducted as well; Pie Traynor was present. Charlie Gehringer, however, was unable to attend, as he was in California preparing for his wedding on June 18.
The sole candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in bold italics; all the remaining candidates have since been selected in subsequent elections, with 16 of the 20 chosen by 1956, and the last in 1991:
PlayerVotesPercentChange
Charlie Gehringer15985.0 18.3%
Mel Ott12868.4 7.0%
Jimmie Foxx8947.6 8.0%
Dizzy Dean8143.3 14.2%
Al Simmons7640.6 17.6%
Paul Waner6333.7 14.0%
Harry Heilmann5227.8 10.8%
Bill Terry4825.7 27.2%
Hank Greenberg4423.5 20.3%
Bill Dickey3920.9 21.6%
Rabbit Maranville3920.9 17.0%
Ray Schalk179.1 6.6%
Joe Cronin168.6 13.0%
Dazzy Vance158.0 13.6%
Ted Lyons147.5 11.5%
Hack Wilson126.4 9.3%
Ross Youngs115.9 7.2%
Gabby Hartnett73.7 19.2%
Tony Lazzeri63.2 9.9%
Red Ruffing42.1 12.3%

Old-Timers Committee

After not having voted on new inductees since 1946, the committee still did not meet formally to consider candidates; instead, the members cast ballots by mail on candidates from the pre-1924 era. This minor action temporarily decreased criticism that earlier players were being overlooked, but it would be the only attempt between 1946 and 1953 to elect players from this period, and there was no attempt to review managers and other non-playing candidates.
On May 9, it was announced that two pitchers had been selected:
Nichols was still living, but Brown had died the previous year. They were formally inducted on June 13 along with Charlie Gehringer and the 1948 selections, Pie Traynor and the late Herb Pennock; Nichols and Traynor were in attendance.
The selection of these two pitchers from the period between 1890 and 1916 was roundly applauded, but it was noted that stars of the earlier era had been ignored once again, as well as position players from the same period.