Writers May Pitch Shutout To Hall Again

Will baseball writers play Scrooge again, or will they fling open the doors to the Hall of Fame?

Ten-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America have until Dec. 31 to return this year’s ballot listing 30 players eligible for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. Results will be announced Jan. 6. Last year, a record 470 ballots were returned, but no former player received the minimum 75-percent support (353 votes) required for election.

It was the first time the writers had pitched a shutout since 1971. Only a four-man nomination by the Veterans Committee - which added Jim Bunning, Earl Weaver, Ned Hanlon and Bill Foster to the Hall - allowed for an induction ceremony to take place last August.

The top three vote-getters from that 1971 shutout - Yogi Berra (67 percent), Early Wynn (67 percent) and Ralph Kiner (59 percent) - were subsequently elected in 1972, 1972 and 1975, respectively. That gives hope to the top three vote-getters who fell short of the necessary 353 votes last year - Phil Niekro (321 votes), Tony Perez (309) and Don Sutton (300).

Also hopeful are eight first-time nominees. They are Dwight Evans, Ken Griffey, Terry Kennedy, Dave Parker, Terry Puhl, Rick Reuschel, Mike Scott and Garry Templeton.

Of the first-timers, seven-time All-Star Parker seemingly has the strongest credentials. But since the first election in 1936, only 26 players have been elected in their first year of eligibility, the most recent being Mike Schmidt in 1995.

Evans played 20 years (19 with Boston, one with Baltimore), batting .272 with 385 home runs and 1,384 RBIs, and was known for one of the best throwing arms of his era.

But numbers alone don’t always a Hall of Famer make.

Niekro, Sutton and Nolan Ryan are baseball’s only 300-game winners not yet in the Hall. Ryan will be a virtual first-ballot lock when he becomes eligible in 1999.

Players become eligible five years after retirement, if selected by a BBWAA screening committee. They are removed from the ballot after 15 years, or sooner if they fail to attract at least 5 percent of the vote in an election.