Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2005 proceeded in keeping with rules enacted in 2001. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) held an election to select from recent players, voting Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs into the Hall. The Veterans Committee held a separate election to select from players retired more than 20 years, but did not elect anyone.
Induction ceremonies in Cooperstown were held July 31 with Commissioner Bud Selig presiding.
BBWAA election The BBWAA was again authorized to elect players active in 1985 or later, but not after 1999; the ballot included candidates from the 2004 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 1999. 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. Results of the 2005 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 4. The ballot consisted of 27 players; 516 ballots were cast, with 387 votes required for election. A total of 3263 individual votes were cast, an average of 6.32 per ballot. Those candidates receiving less than 5% of the vote (26 votes) will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). The two candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. The candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).
PlayerVotesPercentChangeYearWade Boggs47491.8 -1stRyne Sandberg39376.1 15%3rdBruce Sutter34466.6 7.1%12thJim Rice30759.4 4.9%11thGoose Gossage28555.2 14.5%6thAndre Dawson27052.3 2.3%4thBert Blyleven21140.8 5.4%8thLee Smith20038.7 2.1%3rdJack Morris17233.3 7%6thTommy John12323.8 1.9%11thSteve Garvey10620.5 3.8%13thAlan Trammell8716.9 3.1%4thDave Parker6512.5 2.1%9thDon Mattingly5911.4 1.4%5thDave Concepción5510.6 0.7%12thDale Murphy5410.4 1.9%7thWillie McGee265.0 -1stJim Abbott*132.5 -1stDarryl Strawberry*61.1 -1stJack McDowell*40.7 -1stChili Davis*30.5 -1stTom Candiotti*20.3 -1stJeff Montgomery*20.3 -1stTony Phillips*10.1 -1stTerry Steinbach*10.1 -1stMark Langston*00.0 -1stOtis Nixon*00.0 -1st
The newly-eligible candidates included 10 All Stars (two of whom were not on the ballot), who were selected for a combined total of 43 times. Wade Boggs, a 12-time All Star, and Darryl Strawberry, an eight-time All Star, were the only new candidates selected five or more times. The ballot included one Rookie of the Year (Strawberry), one Cy Young Award-winner (Jack McDowell), and one MVP (Willie McGee).
Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Paul Assenmacher, Jeff Blauser, Mike Blowers, John Cangelosi, Jim Corsi, Rich DeLucia, Tony Fossas, Carlos García, Jack Howell, Darrin Jackson, Jeff King, Mike Macfarlane, Kirt Manwaring, Derrick May, Brian McRae, Eric Plunk, Mark Portugal, Mel Rojas, Paul Sorrento, and Dale Sveum.
Of the new players on the ballot, only Wade Boggs was elected; Willie McGee was the only other first-timer to receive enough votes to remain on the ballot, receiving the exact minimum (26) to stay eligible.
Veterans Committee Rules enacted in August 2001 provided that the Veterans Committee would be expanded from its previous 15 members, elected to limited terms, to include the full living membership of the Hall. Elections for players retired over 20 years would be held every other year, with elections of non-players (managers, umpires and executives) held every fourth year. No candidates were elected from either ballot in 2003. Following 2004, when no Veterans election was held, the Committee voted in 2005 on players who were active no later than 1983; the next such election was in 2007. There was no 2005 election for non-players; the last such election was in 2003, and the next was held in 2007.
Preliminary phase In December 2003, a Historical Overview Committee of nine sportswriters appointed by the BBWAA's Board of Directors met at the Hall of Fame's library and nominated 200 players who were active in the major leagues no later than 1983. They were provided with statistical information by the Elias Sports Bureau, official statistician for Major League Baseball since the 1920s, which also identified the 1,400 players with 10 or more years of play who were eligible.
The Historical Overview Committee comprised Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun), Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Moss Klein (Newark Star-Ledger), Bill Madden (New York Daily News), Ken Nigro (former Baltimore Sun writer), Jack O'Connell (The Hartford Courant), Tracy Ringolsby (Rocky Mountain News), and Mark Whicker (Orange Country Register). Their list of 200 players was announced April 19, 2004.
Players. († marks those newly eligible since 2003 (eight). They last played in the majors during 1982 or 1983.) Babe Adams - Joe Adcock - Dick Allen - Felipe Alou - Sal Bando - Dick Bartell - Ginger Beaumont - †Mark Belanger - Wally Berger - Bobby Bonds - Ken Boyer - Harry Brecheen - Tommy Bridges - Pete Browning - Charlie Buffinton - Lew Burdette - George H. Burns - George J. Burns - Dolph Camilli - †Bert Campaneris - Bob Caruthers - George Case - Norm Cash - Phil Cavarretta - Spud Chandler - Ben Chapman - Rocky Colavito - Mort Cooper - Walker Cooper - Wilbur Cooper - Doc Cramer - Del Crandall - Gavvy Cravath - Lave Cross - Mike Cuellar - Bill Dahlen - Alvin Dark - Jake Daubert - Tommy Davis - Willie Davis - Paul Derringer - Dom DiMaggio - Patsy Donovan - Larry Doyle - Jimmy Dykes - Bob Elliott - Del Ennis - Carl Erskine - Elroy Face - Wes Ferrell - Freddie Fitzsimmons - Curt Flood - Bill Freehan - Jim Fregosi - Carl Furillo - Mike Garcia - Junior Gilliam - Jack Glasscock - Joe Gordon - Charlie Grimm - Dick Groat - Heinie Groh - Stan Hack - Harvey Haddix - Mel Harder - Jeff Heath - Tommy Henrich - Babe Herman - Pinky Higgins - John Hiller - Gil Hodges - Ken Holtzman - Willie Horton - Elston Howard - Frank Howard - Dummy Hoy - Larry Jackson - Jackie Jensen - Sam Jethroe - Bob L. Johnson - Davey Johnson - Joe Judge - †Jim Kaat - Willie Kamm - Ken Keltner - Don Kessinger - Johnny Kling - Ted Kluszewski - Ray Kremer - Harvey Kuenn - Joe Kuhel - Vern Law - Sam Leever - Mickey Lolich - Sherm Lollar - Herman Long - Eddie Lopat - Dolf Luque - †Sparky Lyle - Sal Maglie - Jim Maloney - Firpo Marberry - Marty Marion - Roger Maris - Mike G. Marshall - Pepper Martin - †Lee May - Carl Mays - Tim McCarver - Frank McCormick - Lindy McDaniel - Gil McDougald - Sam McDowell - Stuffy McInnis - Denny McLain - Roy McMillan - Dave McNally - Andy Messersmith - Bob Meusel - Irish Meusel - Bing Miller - Stu Miller - Minnie Miñoso - Terry Moore - Tony Mullane - Thurman Munson - †Bobby Murcer - Johnny Murphy - Buddy Myer - Art Nehf - Don Newcombe - Bobo Newsom - Lefty O'Doul - Tony Oliva - Claude Osteen - Andy Pafko - Milt Pappas - Camilo Pascual - Ron Perranoski - Jim Perry - Johnny Pesky - Rico Petrocelli - Deacon Phillippe - Billy Pierce - Vada Pinson - Wally Pipp - Johnny Podres - Boog Powell - Jack Quinn - Vic Raschi - Ed Reulbach - Allie Reynolds - Eddie Rommel - Charlie Root - Al Rosen - Schoolboy Rowe - Pete Runnels - Jimmy Ryan - Johnny Sain - Ron Santo - Hank Sauer - Wally Schang - George Scott - Rip Sewell - Bob Shawkey - Urban Shocker - Roy Sievers - Curt Simmons - †Reggie Smith - Vern Stephens - Riggs Stephenson - Mel Stottlemyre - Harry Stovey - Jesse Tannehill - Tony Taylor - Johnny Temple - Fred Tenney - Bobby Thomson - †Luis Tiant - Mike Tiernan - Joe Torre - Cecil Travis - Hal Trosky - Virgil Trucks - Johnny Vander Meer - George Van Haltren - Bobby Veach - Mickey Vernon - Dixie Walker - Bucky Walters - Lon Warneke - Will White - Cy Williams - Ken R. Williams - Maury Wills - Smoky Joe Wood - Wilbur Wood - Glenn Wright - Jimmy Wynn - Rudy York
The 200 players were almost evenly divided between players retired less than 50 years (99 players retired from 1955 to 1983) and those retired over 50 years (101 players retired 1954 or earlier).
By primary fielding position the nominees were starting pitchers (66), relief pitchers (9), catchers (10), first basemen (24), second basemen (8), third basemen (13), shortstops (19), left fielders (18), center fielders (17) and right fielders (16).
Phase two The Historical Overview nominations were forwarded to a 60-member BBWAA screening committee comprising two writers from each major league city. In summer 2004 they elected 25 players who would appear on the final ballot. (Everyone voted for 25 nominees.) Meanwhile, a committee of six Hall of Fame members independently selected five of the 200 nominees who would appear on the final ballot, which would thereby comprise 25 to 30 players.
Evidently the writers named all of the Hall of Fame members' five selections, for there were 25 on the final ballot.
Final ballot On December 6, 2004, the final ballot of 25 candidates was announced. Those selected played primarily from the 1950s onward, with only 5 of the 25 candidates having retired before 1960, and only three pitchers – Smoky Joe Wood, Carl Mays and Wes Ferrell – having retired before 1950. The BBWAA screening committee had failed to include any candidates from the era before 1910. This likely reflected a tendency among the voting writers to vote only for those players they had seen themselves, and to withhold votes from earlier players.
All 60 living members of the Hall were eligible to cast ballots in the final election, along with the 8 living recipients of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, the 14 living recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award, and the sole additional member of the pre-2001 Veterans Committee whose term had not yet expired (John McHale). Balloting was conducted by mail in January 2005, with voters permitted to vote for up to 10 candidates from the ballot of 25 individuals; all candidates who received at least 75% of the vote would be elected. Results of the voting by the Veterans Committee were announced on March 2.
There were 83 eligible voters, 80 of whom cast ballots; 60 votes were required for election. In all, 458 individual votes were cast, for an average of 5.73 votes per ballot. For the second consecutive Veterans Committee election, no player was elected. Of the 21 candidates who were also on the 2003 ballot, only 7 gained more votes in 2005, with only Joe Torre (7), Ron Santo (6) and Ken Boyer (4) increasing their totals by more than two votes. Candidates who were considered by the Committee for the first time are indicated here with a †; candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. The complete ballot, with the number of votes cast for each candidate, was:
PlayerVotesPercentGil Hodges 52 65.0%Ron Santo 52 65.0%Tony Oliva 45 56.3%Jim Kaat 43 53.8%Joe Torre 36 45.0%Maury Wills 26 32.5%Vada Pinson 23 28.8%Luis Tiant 20 25.0%Roger Maris 19 23.8%Marty Marion 16 20.0%Ken Boyer 15 18.8%Joe Gordon 14 17.5%Dick Allen 12 15.0%Carl Mays 12 15.0%Minnie Miñoso 12 15.0%Curt Flood 10 12.5%Wes Ferrell 9 11.3%Mickey Lolich 9 11.3%Don Newcombe 8 10.0%Sparky Lyle 7 8.8%Elston Howard 6 7.5%Bobby Bonds 4 5.0%Rocky Colavito 4 5.0%Thurman Munson 2 2.5%Smoky Joe Wood 2 2.5%
J. G. Taylor Spink Award Peter Gammons received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer. (The award was voted at the December 2004 meeting of the BBWAA, dated 2004, and conferred in the summer 2005 ceremonies.)