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JOHN SCHUERHOLZ, BUD SELIG ELECTED TO NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME BY TODAY’S GAME ERA COMMITTEE
Newest Electees Will Be Inducted in Cooperstown July 30 as Part of Class of 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Longtime Braves and Royals general manager John Schuerholz and former MLB commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Today’s Game Era Committee, it was announced today on MLB Network.
Schuerholz was named on all of the 16 electors’ ballots while Selig received votes on 15 of the 16 ballots (93.8 percent), easily clearing the 75-percent threshold necessary for election. The Today’s Game Era Committee considered a ballot of five former players, three executives and two managers whose contributions to the game were most significant from 1988 to the present. The Today’s Game Era Committee held meetings today in Washington, D.C., site of Baseball’s Winter Meetings. Both electees are living.
Schuerholz and Selig will be joined in the Hall of Fame Class of 2017 by any electees who emerge from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voting, which will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
Schuerholz, who becomes the sixth Hall of Fame electee whose primary job function was team building (among non-owners), laid the groundwork for the Royals 1985 World Series championship team as farm director and general manager, then moved to the Braves. As general manager, and later president and vice chairman in Atlanta, Schuerholz built a club that qualified for 14 consecutive postseasons, advanced to five World Series and won the crown in 1995. He was the first general manager to lead teams to World Series titles in both the American and National Leagues, and in 25 of his 26 seasons as a GM Schuerholz’s teams finished in third place or better.
Selig was Major League Baseball’s ninth commissioner. His tenure started in 1992 as acting commissioner before he was named commissioner in 1998. Among his accomplishments, Selig oversaw two rounds of expansion, the creation of Wild Card playoff teams and interleague play as well as the creation of the World Baseball Classic. MLB enjoyed uninterrupted labor peace for the final 20 full seasons of Selig’s tenure, which ended on Jan. 25, 2015. The same day Selig is inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 30 in Cooperstown, he will turn 83 years old and become the first living Hall of Famer to be inducted on his birthday. Selig, who is the fifth commissioner elected to the Hall of Fame, now serves as MLB’s commissioner emeritus.
Both Schuerholz and Selig will be available to the media at a press conference at 11 a.m. ET Monday at Baseball’s Winter Meetings at the Woodrow Wilson ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. All credentialed media at the Winter Meetings are invited to attend.
The 16-member Today’s Game Era Committee commissioned with the review of the 10-name ballot of managers, executives and long-retired players was comprised of Hall of Fame members Roberto Alomar, Bobby Cox, Andre Dawson, Dennis Eckersley, Pat Gillick, Ozzie Smith, Don Sutton and Frank Thomas; major league executives Paul Beeston, Bill DeWitt, David Glass, Andy MacPhail and Kevin Towers; and veteran historians Bill Center, Steve Hirdt, and Tim Kurkjian. Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark served as the non-voting chairman of the Today’s Game Era Committee.
Results of the Today’s Game Era Ballot (12 votes needed for election): John Schuerholz (16 votes, 100%); Bud Selig (15 votes, 93.8%); Lou Piniella (7 votes, 43.8%); Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser, Davey Johnson, Mark McGwire and George Steinbrenner each received fewer than five votes.
The Today’s Game Era Committee will next consider candidates in 2018 for the 2019 Induction year, as the process to consider candidates occurs two times in a five-year period. In the fall of 2017, the Modern Baseball Era Committee will consider candidates whose main career contributions came from 1970 through 1987, then will meet again in 2019. In 2020, the Golden Days Era Committee will consider candidates whose main career contributions occurred from 1950-69. And also in 2020, the Early Days Era Committee will consider candidates whose greatest contributions came from baseball’s origins through 1949. Committees will continue to meet at the Winter Meetings.
The Today’s Game Era ballot was determined this fall by the Historical Overview Committee, comprised of 11 veteran historians: Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network); Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun); Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); Bill Madden (formerly New York Daily News); Jack O’Connell (BBWAA); Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram); Tracy Ringolsby (MLB.com); Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle); Dave Van Dyck (formerly Chicago Tribune); and Mark Whicker (Southern California News Group).
Hall of Fame Weekend 2017 will be held July 28-31 in Cooperstown, N.Y., with the Induction Ceremony slated for Sunday, July 30, 2017. The BBWAA election results will be announced at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 18 on MLB Network.
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. 6 for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. On Wednesday, Dec. 7, the Museum will announce the Ford C. Frick Award winner, given for excellence in baseball broadcasting.
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