1966 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2019) |
| New inductees | 2 |
|---|---|
| via BBWAA | 1 |
| via Veterans Committee | 1 |
| Total inductees | 104 |
| Induction date | July 25, 1966 |
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1966 followed the system introduced for even-number years in 1956. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players with provision for a second, "runoff" election in case of no winner. Ted Williams tallied more than 90% on the first ballot. Meanwhile, the Veterans Committee was meeting annually to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected Casey Stengel. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on July 25, 1966, with Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert presiding.[1][2] During his acceptance speech, Williams advocated for the inclusion of Negro league baseball players, such as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, in the Hall of Fame.[2] Paige was inducted in 1971, and Gibson in 1972.
BBWAA election
The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1946 or later, but not after 1960. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.
Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. A total of 49 players received votes; 302 ballots were cast, with 227 votes required for election. A total of 2,210 individual votes were cast, an average of 7.32 per ballot.
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). Results of the 1966 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 20. The one candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. Al López was later elected as a manager.
Ted Williams was elected with 93.4% of the vote. Williams won the Triple Crown twice and was the last player to hit .400 in a season (.406 in 1941). He famously used his Hall induction speech to advocate for elections of Negro league players.
Tommy Bridges was eligible for the final time.
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J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Charles Dryden (1860–1930) received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer.[3] The award was voted at the December 1965 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1966 ceremonies.
References
- ^ "Casey, Williams in Hall of Fame". Chicago Tribune. UPI. July 26, 1966. p. 3-1. Retrieved October 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Williams Chides Writers; Stengel Thanks Kankakee". The Pantagraph. Bloomington, Illinois. AP. July 26, 1966. p. 10. Retrieved October 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "1965 BBWAA Career Excellence Award Winner Charles Dryden | Baseball Hall of Fame".
External links
- 1966 Election at www.baseballhalloffame.org