1958 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting


Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1958 followed a system established after the 1956 election. The Baseball Writers' Association of America voted by mail to select from recent major league players; they elected no one. The BBWAA was voting only in even-number years, with the Veterans Committee meeting only in odd-numbered years to consider older major league players as well as managers, umpires, and executives. For the first time since, the induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York, were canceled because there was no one to induct, the second such occurrence in Hall of Fame history.

BBWAA election

Several elements of the current procedure were put into effect. There was a printed list of eligible candidates, all of whom had played in at least ten major league seasons. Only 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote, and they were instructed to vote for up to ten candidates rather than ten. The latter revision resulted from complaints by many writers in 1956 that there were no longer many viable candidates, a situation which had been caused partly by changes governing candidate eligibility.
The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1928 or later but not after 1952, a 25-year span of major league finales. The Hall of Fame would induct any candidate who received at least 75% support, as always, which was 200 votes on 266 ballots returned. A total of 2,400 individual votes were cast, an average of 9.02 per ballot.
There were about 400 players on the new ballot and about 154 received at least one vote. A dagger marks candidates who last played in 1951 or 1952. Under the new rules they would have been on the ballot for the first time, alone among the candidates who received votes, but this was the first ballot with a list of players. Candidates who have been inducted subsequently are named in italics.
With many strong candidates but none who particularly stood out, many players received support but none were elected; while 27 players received between 10% and 40%, only two received more than 40%. Max Carey's 51.1% remains the lowest percentage for a top vote getter in a BBWAA election.
PlayerVotesPercentChange
Max Carey13651.1 17.4%
Edd Roush11242.1 5.1%
Red Ruffing9937.2 13.1%
Hack Wilson9435.3 3.0%
Kiki Cuyler9033.8 5.3%
Sam Rice9033.8 10.5%
Tony Lazzeri8030.1 3.1%
Luke Appling7728.9 21.6%
Lefty Gomez7628.6 17.5%
Burleigh Grimes7126.7 13.7%
Red Faber6825.6 8.0%
Lou Boudreau6424.1-
Jim Bottomley5721.4 0.4%
Joe Medwick5018.8 2.7%
Pepper Martin4617.3 13.7%
Hank Gowdy4516.9 8.5%
Bucky Harris4516.9-
Dave Bancroft4316.2 8.4%
Lloyd Waner3914.7 5.4%
Waite Hoyt3713.9 5.3%
Chuck Klein3613.5 9.3%
†Johnny Vander Meer3513.2 11.6%
Earle Combs3412.8 5.5%
Stan Coveleski3412.8-
Al López3412.8 12.3%
Bucky Walters3312.4 9.8%
Eppa Rixey3212.0 2.0%
Leo Durocher2810.5 10.0%
Lefty O'Doul2710.2 7.6%
Jimmy Dykes269.8 9.3%
Goose Goslin269.8 3.7%
Charlie Grimm269.8-
Bobby Doerr259.4-
Jesse Haines228.3 1.0%
Heinie Manush228.3 1.6%
Nick Altrock207.5 7.0%
Billy Southworth186.8-
Freddie Fitzsimmons166.0 4.4%
Paul Derringer155.6 0.6%
Dolf Luque155.6 5.1%
Earl Averill145.3 3.7%
Babe Herman134.9 0.8%
Art Nehf134.9-
Red Rolfe134.9 3.3%
Chick Hafey124.5 3.8%
Terry Moore124.5-
Schoolboy Rowe124.5-
Tommy Bridges114.1 2.5%
Joe Gordon114.1 2.0%
Tommy Henrich114.1 3.1%
Travis Jackson114.1 3.2%
Steve O'Neill103.8-
Muddy Ruel103.8 4.5%
Rick Ferrell93.4 2.9%
Joe Judge93.4 2.4%
†Charlie Keller93.4-
Jack Quinn93.4 2.9%
Wally Schang83.0 2.5%
†Birdie Tebbetts83.0-
Glenn Wright83.0 1.4%
Howard Ehmke72.6 1.5%
Billy Herman72.6 1.6%
Eddie Rommel72.6-
Stan Hack62.3 1.8%
Mel Harder62.3-
Pinky Higgins62.3-
Carl Mays62.3-
†Pete Reiser62.3-
Charlie Root62.3-
Arky Vaughan62.3 2.4%
Cy Williams62.3 3.4%
†Bullet Joe Bush51.9-
Frankie Crosetti51.9 1.4%
Joe Dugan51.9 1.4%
Orval Grove51.9-
Fielder Jones51.9-
Freddie Lindstrom51.9 0.3%
Firpo Marberry51.9-
Bob Meusel51.9 1.4%
Moe Berg41.5-
Max Bishop41.5 1.0%
Dolph Camilli41.5 1.0%
Cookie Lavagetto41.5-
Ernie Lombardi41.5 2.6%
Urban Shocker41.5-
George Uhle41.5 1.0%
Charlie Berry31.1-
Mort Cooper31.1 0.1%
Tony Cuccinello31.1 0.6%
Bill Doak31.1-
Lew Fonseca31.1 0.1%
Mike González31.1-
Frankie Gustine31.1-
Willie Kamm31.1-
Bob O'Farrell31.1-
Luke Sewell31.1-
Billy Werber31.1-
Jimmie Wilson31.1 7.7%
Wally Berger20.8 0.3%
Ossie Bluege20.8 0.2%
Doc Cramer20.8 1.3%
†Tommy Holmes20.8-
George Kelly20.8 0.2%
Ray Kremer20.8-
Freddy Leach20.8-
Joe McCarthy20.8-
Marty McManus20.8-
Lee Meadows20.8-
Van Mungo20.8-
Cy Perkins20.8-
Bill Sherdel20.8 0.3%
Lon Warneke20.8-
Earl Whitehill20.8 0.3%
Sparky Adams10.4-
Jimmy Austin10.4-
Dick Bartell10.4-
Larry Benton10.4-
Ray Blades10.4-
George Case10.4-
†Sam Chapman10.4-
Alvin Crowder10.4-
Harry Danning10.4-
Curt Davis10.4-
Jumbo Elliott10.4-
Rick Ferrell10.4 0.1%
George Grantham10.4-
Mule Haas10.4 0.1%
Bill Hallahan10.4 0.1%
Bubbles Hargrave10.4-
Billy Jurges10.4-
Ken Keltner10.4-
Red Kress10.4-
Red Lucas10.4-
Gus Mancuso10.4-
Bing Miller10.4-
†Wally Moses10.4-
Johnny Mostil10.4 0.1%
Charley O'Leary10.4-
Monte Pearson10.4-
Wally Pipp10.4-
Hal Schumacher10.4 0.6%
Jack Scott10.4-
Joe Sewell10.4 1.2%
Rip Sewell10.4-
Warren Spahn10.4-
Riggs Stephenson10.4 0.6%
Gus Suhr10.4 0.1%
Clyde Sukeforth10.4-
Rube Walberg10.4-
†Harry Walker10.4-
Ken Williams10.4 0.1%
Whit Wyatt10.4-
Pep Young10.4-
Tom Zachary10.4-

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