COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Gil Hodges, Roger Maris and Minnie Miñoso are among 10 men on the ballot of the Golden Days Era committee for baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Billy Pierce and Maury Wills also are on the ballot along with former Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh, the Hall said Friday.
The vote by the 16-person committee, whose members will be announced later, is scheduled for Dec. 5 at the winter meetings in Orlando, Florida. Its ballot considers players whose primary contributions were from 1950-69.
A separate 16-person early baseball era committee also will meet to consider pre-1950 candidates. Its ballot includes seven players from the Negro Leagues: John Donaldson, Bud Fowler, Vic Harris, Grant “Home Run” Johnson, Buck O’Neil, Dick “Cannonball” Redding and George Scales.
They are joined by Bill Dahlen, Lefty O’Doul, Allie Reynolds and George Scales.
To gain election from either committee, a candidate must appear on at least 75% of ballots.
Anyone elected will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 24 along with any players elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, whose balloting will be announced Jan. 25. First-time BBWAA ballot eligibles include David Ortiz, Ryan Howard, Tim Lincecum and Alex Rodriguez.
Steroids-tainted stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will be on the BBWAA ballot for the final time.
Hodges, an eight-time All-Star first baseman for the Dodgers and manager of the 1969 World Series champion New York Mets, received 63.4% of the ballots in 1983, falling 44 votes shy of election in his final appearance on the BBWAA ballot.
Maris, a two-time AL MVP who hit 61 home runs in 1961 to break Babe Ruth’s single-season record, received 43.1% in his final BBWAA ballot appearance in 1988.
Miñoso peaked at 20.9% in his second BBWAA ballot appearance in 1986. He got just 14.7% in his final appearance in 1999.
Candidates for the early days balloting were picked by a special early baseball overview committee of five Negro Leagues historians — Gary Ashwill, Adrian Burgos Jr., Phil Dixon, Leslie Heaphy and Claire Smith — and five BBWAA members who have served on the Hall’s historical overview committee: Jim Henneman, Steve Hirdt, Rick Hummel, Jim Reeves and Glenn Schwarz.
Candidates for the golden era vote were selected by Henneman, Hirdt, Hummel, Reeves, Schwarz, Bob Elliott, Dave O’Brien, Jack O’Connell, Tracy Ringolsby, Susan Slusser and Mark Whicker.
The Today’s Game Committee (1988 to present) will consider candidates in December 2022 and the Modern Baseball Committee (1970-87) will meet in December 2023.
