Breaking down Hall of Fame candidates

NEW YORK — In two weeks, a committee of 16 Hall of Fame players, managers and executives will assemble in Orlando to debate the worthiness of 10 former players from the Golden Era of baseball (1950s and ‘60s) for long-awaited plaques in Cooperstown.

For Brooklyn and Queens fan favorite Gil Hodges, this will be his 20th turn at-bat with various Veterans Committees after failing to reach the necessary 75% needed for election in 15 years on the Baseball Writers Association ballot. The highest percentage he ever achieved with the writers was 63.4 in his last year on the ballot and his 3,010 votes in 15 years from the writers are the most of any player not elected to the Hall of Fame. Similarly, Minnie Minoso,

Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva and Dick Allen, the other leading candidates on the 10-player ballot, each have been on five or more Veterans Committees ballots.

Full disclosure here: I was formerly a member of the Historical Review Committee that made