Number Elected to Hall in 2006?

[Pine Tar]

Just thought I would see how many people you all think are going to be elected tomorrow. This poll is about how many you think will be elected not how many deserve to be elected.

I personally don't think there is going to be anybody elected. I don't think that has happenned for a long time but it used to happen quite often.

[Edgartohof]

I could see them either electing 1 or 2, but I went with 2 in the poll, just because that is the way voting has gone the last few years.

As to no one getting in, I don't think that is such a bad idea, but not likely. The Hall has been watered down by too many players being elected, when truly there isn't someone deserving every single year. The last time no one was elected won in 1960 I believe, although it happened 4 or 5 times before that. I think we would definitely be setting a precedent if no one was elected, and it could help stop the Hall from being so watered down, or on the opposite hand, it could lead to even more players being elected in later years (i.e. after 1960, with no one voted in, the voting went 2, 4, 4, 7! I guess they were trying to make up for that or something. The same thing happened after 1950).

[abacab]

I think Sutter gets elected, with Rice and Gossage coming up just short. I don't like to see "elect-zero" years. What's the point of a Hall of Fame if they don't induct anybody?

[ElHalo]

I think I can guarantee that there will be more than 4 inducted this year. It's possible that there will be more than a dozen. Or did everyone forget about the little project they have going on?

[Pine Tar]

I think I can guarantee that there will be more than 4 inducted this year. It's possible that there will be more than a dozen. Or did everyone forget about the little project they have going on?

In the text of my question I asked how many would be elected tomorrow so I think we can focus on how many will be elected by the writers not by the special committees.

[Chadwick]

BBWAA Elections Where No Candidate Received 75% Support

1945
In 1939, the BBWAA had decided to conduct elections every three years. They first met, under this schedule, to elect players in 1942 and inducted Rogers Hornsby. Three years later, Frank Chance led all candidates with 72% of the vote. All 33 players who received 5% or more of the votes that year were eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame. Three of the top ten finishers (Roger Bresnahan, Jimmy Collins and Ed Delahanty) were elected by the Old-Timers Committee later that year.

1946
Dumping the two-years-between-elections idea, this year a "nominating ballot" procedure was used wherein the writers voted and the top 20 "nominees" would be carried over to a final ballot. Chance led all nominees on the first ballot, with 71% support. Inexplicably, however, his support dropped to 57% on the final ballot; he still led all candidates. Chance was inducted that year by the Old-Timers Committee, who also inducted the next four best-supported players in the BBWAA election that same year.

1949
A run-off procedure was in place at this time. The leading candidate, Charlie Gehringer, received 66% of the vote, forcing a "run-off" among the top candidates. He was the top vote-getter (receiving 85% support) on the run-off ballot, hence gaining election.

1950
Mel Ott led all candidates with 68% of the votes. The top 23 vote-getters in this election were eventually elected to Cooperstown. The BBWAA elected Ott (along with Jimmie Foxx) the following year.

1958
The BBWAA had moved to elections every other year earlier in the decade. The previous election had seen Joe Cronin and Hank Greenberg's induction, but this time, no one received enough votes. Max Carey led the way, being named on just 51% of the ballots. He would be inducted by the Veterans Committee in 1961. The top fourteen vote-getters have since been elected.

1960
Edd Roush (who had finished 2nd in the 1958 voting) led all candidates this year, with 54% of the vote. He was elected by the Veterans Committee in 1962. The top thirteen vote-getters have since been elected.

1964
Luke Appling (70.64%) and Red Ruffing (70.15%) led all candidates in the first ballot. A run-off procedure had been re-established at this time, and both players received enough votes in the follow-up ballot to gain election (84% for Appling, 81% for Ruffing.) However, the rules stated that only the top vote-getter in the run-off would be elected. Hence, Ruffing had to wait his turn.

1967
Same rules as 1964. Ruffing (72%) and Joe Medwick (72%) led all vote-getters in the first ballot. Again, a run-off was used. Again, two players had at least 75% of the vote in the second go-round. Medwick's 81%, however, was 5% less than Ruffing's support and so Ruffing got elected whereas Medwick, in turn, waited for future elections.

1971
Being named on 67% of the ballots was simply not enough for Yogi Berra. (Unbelievable, isn't it?) Seven of the top ten vote-getters in this election have been elected. (Gil Hodges, Marty Marion and Allie Reynolds are the exceptions.)

1996
Phil Niekro led all candidates with 68% of the votes. Tony Perez (2nd) and Don Sutton (3rd) are the only other players out of the 35 names on this ballot who have since been inducted to the Hall of Fame.

2006
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