GOLDEN ERA COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES RESULTS

Dick Allen, Tony Oliva Earn Highest Percentage on Ballot with 68.8 Percent Each

(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) – The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Golden Era Committee announced balloting results Monday for its 2014 election of players, managers, executives and umpires. The ballot featured nine former players and one former executive and was considered by a 16-person committee featuring eight Hall of Famers, four veteran baseball executives and four historians/media members.

Dick Allen, former third baseman and first baseman with Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, White Sox and Athletics, and longtime Twins outfielder Tony Oliva each received 11 votes (68.8%) as the top vote-getters.

Results of the Golden Era Ballot (12 votes needed for election): Dick Allen (11 votes, 68.8%); Tony Oliva (11 votes, 68.8%); Jim Kaat (10 votes, 62.5%); Maury Wills (9 votes, 56.3%); Minnie Minoso (8 votes, 50%); Ken Boyer, Gil Hodges, Bob Howsam, Billy Pierce and Luis Tiant received three or fewer votes each.

The Golden Era Committee considered the ballot of candidates whose contributions to the game were most significant from 1947-72. Votes on 75 percent of all ballots cast were needed to earn Hall of Fame election. Committee members could vote for zero to four candidates on each ballot.

The 16-member Golden Era Committee commissioned with the review of the 10-name ballot met Sunday and Monday in San Diego, Calif., and was comprised of Hall of Fame members Jim Bunning, Rod Carew, Pat Gillick, Ferguson Jenkins, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan, Ozzie Smith and Don Sutton; major league executives Dave Dombrowski, Jim Frey, David Glass and Roland Hemond; and veteran media members Steve Hirdt, Dick Kaegel, Phil Pepe and Tracy Ringolsby. Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark served as the non-voting chairman of the Golden Era Committee.

The Golden Era ballot was devised by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America-appointed Historical Overview Committee, comprised of 11 veteran members, which screened all eligible players, managers, umpires and executives to develop the final 10-name ballot: Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune), Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Bill Madden (New York Daily News), Ken Nigro (formerly Baltimore Sun), Jack O’Connell (BBWAA secretary/treasurer), Tracy Ringolsby (MLB.com), Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle), Claire Smith (ESPN) and Mark Whicker (Los Angeles Newspaper Group).

The Golden Era Committee will next consider candidates in 2017 for the 2018 Induction year, as the process to consider candidates by era repeats on a three-year cycle. In 2015, the Pre-Integration Era Committee – which met previously in 2012 – will consider candidates whose main career contributions came from baseball’s origins through 1946. In 2016, the Expansion Era Committee – which met previously in 2013 – will consider candidates whose main career contributions came from 1973 through the present. Committees will continue to meet at the Winter Meetings.

Hall of Fame Weekend 2015 will be held July 24-27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., with the Induction Ceremony slated for Sunday, July 26, 2015. The BBWAA election results will be announced at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Jan. 6.

Also this week at the Winter Meetings, two Hall of Fame award winners will be announced, with the BBWAA selecting its annual J.G. Taylor Spink Award on Tuesday, Dec. 9 for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. On Wednesday, Dec. 10, the Museum will announce the 2015 Ford C. Frick Award winner, given for excellence in baseball broadcasting.