This article needs additional citations for
verification. (October 2019) |
New inductees | 10 |
---|---|
via Old Timers Committee | 10 |
Total inductees | 38 |
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1945 included the first regular election conducted in three years and a strong response to criticism of the slow pace of honors. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent players, and elected no one. The Old Timers Committee responded by electing the biggest class yet, ten people. The selections by the Committee, announced in April 1945, were: Roger Bresnahan, Dan Brouthers, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Collins, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Duffy, Hughie Jennings, King Kelly, Jim O'Rourke, and Wilbert Robinson. [1]
After the baseball centennial and grand opening of the Hall of Fame in 1939, the BBWAA had determined to vote only every third year. After electing three players that year, it elected one in 1942 and none in 1945. New rules now provided that the writers would return to voting on recent players annually.
In response to increasing complaints that the stars of the 19th century were being ignored, commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis had in August 1944 enlarged the Hall of Fame Committee from four members to seven. He had instructed them to elect a minimum of 10 players from the 1876–1900 period when they met as the Old-Timers Committee in early 1945—a goal the committee members believed would be relatively easy to meet, as some among them stated that the number of qualified candidates was likely over two dozen. After Landis' death in November 1944, the committee met briefly and elected Landis to the Hall of Fame. They also suggested that if the January 1945 election by the BBWAA failed to select any players whose careers extended into the initial years of the 20th century, some would be selected by the committee when they met in February.
Members of the BBWAA again had the authority to select any players active in the 20th century (after 1900), provided they had not appeared in a major league game in 1944. 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.
A total of 247 ballots were cast, with 2,362 individual votes for 95 specific candidates, an average of 9.56 per ballot; 186 votes were required for election. The results were announced on January 28, 1945. The emphasis on the players of the 1900s and 1910s, who many voters felt should be given priority, again continued to increase beyond the levels seen in 1939 and 1942. Only five of the top 22 candidates in the voting, and none of the top six, had seen any substantial play since 1917; only three of the top 36, and none of the top 22, had played their final season anytime between 1918 and 1933. Eight of the top 13 candidates were deceased. Players who had been retired over 27 years – 48 of the 94 named – received 72% of the votes.
For the first time in the three BBWAA elections, no candidate received at least 75% of the vote. Particularly since the next election was not scheduled to be held until 1948, that a new generation of players was quickly becoming eligible, and that increasingly fractured voting patterns would make selections more improbable, criticism became widespread that the election system needed to be reviewed and quickly revised; it was suggested that the Old-Timers Committee might select some of the earliest popular candidates to help clear the top of the ballot. At its September 1945 meeting, the Hall of Fame Committee ordered that the three-year wait between elections be abolished, and that annual elections resume under a revised format.
Candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics; players chosen by the Old-Timers Committee in 1945 are marked with an asterisk (*).
|
In response to the failure of the BBWAA to select any inductees, the Old-Timers Committee was encouraged to assist the BBWAA in clearing the congestion at the top of its ballot by including, among their 10 requested selections from the period 1876–1900, some players whose careers extended into the early 20th century – in particular, the three players gaining over 100 votes in the BBWAA election whose careers had peaked before 1905.
The committee members were: Hall of Fame president Stephen C. Clark, who chaired the committee; Hall of Fame treasurer Paul S. Kerr, the committee secretary; Yankees president Ed Barrow; Athletics owner/manager Connie Mack; New York sportswriter Sid Mercer; Braves president Bob Quinn; and Boston sportswriter Mel Webb. The committee had initially planned to meet in February; but the long search for a successor to Landis, along with the retirements of Barrow and Quinn as club presidents, delayed the meeting until April 25, one day after Albert "Happy" Chandler was elected as the new commissioner. On that day, in the offices of the New York Yankees, six members of the committee met to make their selections; Sid Mercer could not attend due to a long illness which took his life 8 weeks later.
The committee, as requested, selected 10 inductees, the first three by unanimous vote:
Of the 10 selections, only Clarke and Duffy were still living. The committee intended to consider the pitchers of the era at their next meeting in September, and to elect additional members at that time. When they met in Cooperstown on September 6, however, they focused instead on revising the widely criticized election process, and ordered that the BBWAA resume annual elections under a revised format which was hoped to facilitate more selections (the BBWAA having selected only one player in six years). Former National League president John Heydler participated in the meeting to replace those members who were deceased or otherwise unable to attend. Once the decision was made to hold the next election in 1946 rather than in 1948, the committee agreed to postpone the selection of pitchers and other candidates until they met in spring 1946.
Among those candidates who were not elected by the Old-Timers Committee at their April 1945 meeting, there were five who received particularly strong support or attention:
Although the committee's selections were roundly applauded at the time, in later years many baseball historians and writers came to believe strongly that the committee erred in some of its 1945 selections, and that too many individuals had been elected; however, this view does not consider the fact that the committee had been required to select 10 inductees that year. There are also several factors which make the reasons for their choices clearly discernible:
This article needs additional citations for
verification. (October 2019) |
New inductees | 10 |
---|---|
via Old Timers Committee | 10 |
Total inductees | 38 |
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1945 included the first regular election conducted in three years and a strong response to criticism of the slow pace of honors. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent players, and elected no one. The Old Timers Committee responded by electing the biggest class yet, ten people. The selections by the Committee, announced in April 1945, were: Roger Bresnahan, Dan Brouthers, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Collins, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Duffy, Hughie Jennings, King Kelly, Jim O'Rourke, and Wilbert Robinson. [1]
After the baseball centennial and grand opening of the Hall of Fame in 1939, the BBWAA had determined to vote only every third year. After electing three players that year, it elected one in 1942 and none in 1945. New rules now provided that the writers would return to voting on recent players annually.
In response to increasing complaints that the stars of the 19th century were being ignored, commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis had in August 1944 enlarged the Hall of Fame Committee from four members to seven. He had instructed them to elect a minimum of 10 players from the 1876–1900 period when they met as the Old-Timers Committee in early 1945—a goal the committee members believed would be relatively easy to meet, as some among them stated that the number of qualified candidates was likely over two dozen. After Landis' death in November 1944, the committee met briefly and elected Landis to the Hall of Fame. They also suggested that if the January 1945 election by the BBWAA failed to select any players whose careers extended into the initial years of the 20th century, some would be selected by the committee when they met in February.
Members of the BBWAA again had the authority to select any players active in the 20th century (after 1900), provided they had not appeared in a major league game in 1944. 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.
A total of 247 ballots were cast, with 2,362 individual votes for 95 specific candidates, an average of 9.56 per ballot; 186 votes were required for election. The results were announced on January 28, 1945. The emphasis on the players of the 1900s and 1910s, who many voters felt should be given priority, again continued to increase beyond the levels seen in 1939 and 1942. Only five of the top 22 candidates in the voting, and none of the top six, had seen any substantial play since 1917; only three of the top 36, and none of the top 22, had played their final season anytime between 1918 and 1933. Eight of the top 13 candidates were deceased. Players who had been retired over 27 years – 48 of the 94 named – received 72% of the votes.
For the first time in the three BBWAA elections, no candidate received at least 75% of the vote. Particularly since the next election was not scheduled to be held until 1948, that a new generation of players was quickly becoming eligible, and that increasingly fractured voting patterns would make selections more improbable, criticism became widespread that the election system needed to be reviewed and quickly revised; it was suggested that the Old-Timers Committee might select some of the earliest popular candidates to help clear the top of the ballot. At its September 1945 meeting, the Hall of Fame Committee ordered that the three-year wait between elections be abolished, and that annual elections resume under a revised format.
Candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics; players chosen by the Old-Timers Committee in 1945 are marked with an asterisk (*).
|
In response to the failure of the BBWAA to select any inductees, the Old-Timers Committee was encouraged to assist the BBWAA in clearing the congestion at the top of its ballot by including, among their 10 requested selections from the period 1876–1900, some players whose careers extended into the early 20th century – in particular, the three players gaining over 100 votes in the BBWAA election whose careers had peaked before 1905.
The committee members were: Hall of Fame president Stephen C. Clark, who chaired the committee; Hall of Fame treasurer Paul S. Kerr, the committee secretary; Yankees president Ed Barrow; Athletics owner/manager Connie Mack; New York sportswriter Sid Mercer; Braves president Bob Quinn; and Boston sportswriter Mel Webb. The committee had initially planned to meet in February; but the long search for a successor to Landis, along with the retirements of Barrow and Quinn as club presidents, delayed the meeting until April 25, one day after Albert "Happy" Chandler was elected as the new commissioner. On that day, in the offices of the New York Yankees, six members of the committee met to make their selections; Sid Mercer could not attend due to a long illness which took his life 8 weeks later.
The committee, as requested, selected 10 inductees, the first three by unanimous vote:
Of the 10 selections, only Clarke and Duffy were still living. The committee intended to consider the pitchers of the era at their next meeting in September, and to elect additional members at that time. When they met in Cooperstown on September 6, however, they focused instead on revising the widely criticized election process, and ordered that the BBWAA resume annual elections under a revised format which was hoped to facilitate more selections (the BBWAA having selected only one player in six years). Former National League president John Heydler participated in the meeting to replace those members who were deceased or otherwise unable to attend. Once the decision was made to hold the next election in 1946 rather than in 1948, the committee agreed to postpone the selection of pitchers and other candidates until they met in spring 1946.
Among those candidates who were not elected by the Old-Timers Committee at their April 1945 meeting, there were five who received particularly strong support or attention:
Although the committee's selections were roundly applauded at the time, in later years many baseball historians and writers came to believe strongly that the committee erred in some of its 1945 selections, and that too many individuals had been elected; however, this view does not consider the fact that the committee had been required to select 10 inductees that year. There are also several factors which make the reasons for their choices clearly discernible: