Four shrines, four playbooks to separate best from the rest
Brendan Kennedy demystifies voting and quizzes sports hall of fame leaders on controversial selection game plans
NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM
Cooperstown, N.Y. Established in 1939
Inductees: 306 (240 players, 22 managers, 10 umpires and 34 executives)
Latest class: Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz
Voters: Members of the Baseball Writers Association of America who have covered the sport for at least 10 years. There were 549 voters this year.
Election process: Induction requires 75 per cent support. Writers can vote for no more than 10 players on the ballot in a given year. Candidates who receive more than five per cent remain on the ballot for up to 10 years.
Transparency: Voters are not obliged to publish their ballots, but roughly half do so voluntarily, either by writing about it or directly through the BBWAA. There have been increased calls for making published ballots mandatory, while a recent study showed significantly different voting patterns by anonymous compared to public voters.
Controversies: The treatment of steroid-era superstars, namely Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens; Pete Rose’s ineligibility.
Only one per cent of major-league players have been enshrined in Cooperstown, making baseball’s hall the most exclusive of any sport. But many fans think it has gone too far, particularly with regards to Bonds and Clemens, two of the sport’s most accomplished players who have been snubbed by roughly two-thirds of voters since they joined the ballot, presumably for their alleged steroid use. Voters cite the so-called “character clause,” which stipulates that voting shall be based on not only a player’s abilities but also his “integrity, sportsmanship” and “character.”
It’s not a perfect process by any means, but historically, Jaffe said, the writers do a pretty good job electing “the cream of the crop” in short order.
“There are outliers, there are screwups, there are certainly guys that they’ve missed on, some of them horrendously so.”
Since 2013’s induction shutout, the writers have elected seven players, including four this year for the first time in 60 years.
“Frankly they should have gotten nine in,” Jaffe said. “We should have seen a foursome in one year and a quintet in the other.”
Even if you set aside Bonds and Clemens, Jaffe said Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell are both deserving of election. “Of the seven who got in, it doesn’t take a genius to put these particular guys in.”
With the current ballot so jammed up, the biggest criticism of late is the arbitrary limit of 10 votes per ballot. The BBWAA has appealed to the hall to loosen that restriction, and there are rumblings that the limit could increase to 12 in the near future.
PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
Canton, Ohio Established in 1963 Inductees: 287
Latest class: Derrick Brooks, Ray Guy, Claude Humphrey, Walter Jones, Andre Reed, Michael Strahan, Aeneas Williams
Voters: Selection committee is made up of 46 members of the media, including one from each geographical region of the NFL’s 32 teams and 14 at-large members who cover the sport at the national level.
Election process: The selection committee receives a long list of all modern-era (retired in the last 25 years) candidates in September, reduces the list to 25 semifinalists in November and again to 15 finalists in January. The final vote is held the day before the Super Bowl. Election requires 80 per cent support. No fewer than four and no more than eight modern-era players can be elected.
Transparency: Ballots are secret, but names of candidates are public at each stage of the process as the long list is reduced to the successful candidates. The selection committee is also public.
Controversies: Under-representation of defensive and special-teams players; refusal to acknowledge CFL experience; alleged blacklisting of broadcaster Howard Cosell.
Joe Horrigan, the hall’s executive vice-president, said the process is reviewed each year and changes are made as needed. Horrigan said while the voting may be secret, they do publicize the players considered at every stage. “Our motivation behind the confidentiality is so that a selector can vote as he sees best without fear of repercussion.”
NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME
Springfield, Mass. Established in 1959
Inductees: 340 (168 players, 95 coaches, 63 contributors and 14 referees)
Latest class: Nathaniel Clifton, Immaculata College, Bobby Leonard, Sarunas Marciulionis, Alonzo Mourning, Nolan Richardson, Mitch Richmond, Guy Rodgers, David Stern, Gary Williams
Voters: Nine-member North American screening committee and sevenmember women’s screening committee submit nominees to 24-member Honours committee, which includes former players, executives and media. One-third of the committee turns over every year, with members serving a maximum of three years.
Election process: The North American screening committee boils down the list of NBA nominees to 10 finalists, who are voted on by the Honours group. Induction requires 75 per cent support by simple yes or no vote. There is no limit to number of players elected. The women’s screening committee submits two female finalists to the same Honours committee, which carries out the same procedure. Five specialized subcommittees — early African-American pioneers, veterans, international, American Basketball Association and contributors — can directly elect one candidate per year.
Transparency: Widely criticized, the Basketball Hall of Fame not only votes secretly but also keeps secret who is actually on the selection committee. “We believe it protects the process,” says John Doleva, the hall’s president and CEO, who adds that confidentiality prevents strategic voting and lobbying while also protecting committee members from criticism. “We believe with the quality of people we have, maintaining their confidentiality allows us to get the best and the brightest people in basketball.”
HOCKEY HALL OF FAME
Toronto (previously Kingston, Ont.) Established in 1943
Inductees: 381 (263 players, 102 builders, 16 officials)
Latest class: Rob Blake, Peter Forsberg, Dominik Hasek, Mike Modano, Pat Burns and Bill McCreary
Voters: 18-member selection committee, appointed by hall’s board of directors and made up of former players, coaches, executives and members of the media.
Election process: Committee members nominate and vote on prospective candidates. Election requires 75 per cent support from the committee, who can vote for a maximum of four on the ballot. No more than four male players, two female players and two builders/officials can be elected in a given year. Players become eligible three years after retiring.
Transparency: Names of committee members are public, but their ballots remain secret, as do the names of any unsuccessful nominees. Committee members are appointed on three-year terms up to a maximum of 15 years.
Controversies: Not electing Burns when he was alive; Paul Henderson’s candidacy.
The Hockey Hall of Fame has, at various times, been criticized both for being too generous and too restrictive in how it recognizes honorees. It has battled a reputation of being easy to get into — at least if you played in the National Hockey League.
It was only in 2010 that it finally opened its doors to women by honouring Angela James and Cammi Granato, while it has previously been criticized for focusing too heavily on NHL players while ignoring some international greats, an imbalance it has worked to rectify in recent years.
President and CEO Jeff Denomme said selection committees may have been more lenient in the past, but in the last 20 years only 43 of the roughly 2,500 eligible players — or 1.8 per cent — have been elected. “So that’s a pretty high standard of exclusiveness and excellence.”
Overall, the hall has elected just under four per cent of eligible players.
Denomme says the “broad representation” on the hockey hall’s selection committee is what distinguishes it from other halls. “It’s a smaller committee, but it still is very broadly represented.”
He adds that the secret ballot is important to protect committee members from external criticism and pressure, ensuring free debate.