1949 Hall of Fame

 As I continue this arduous task of mine to chronicle every member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, I take a moment to reflect on where I am at and what is to come. At publishing, it is almost time for my annual special where I highlight everyone on the 2025 ballot, and I realize I have about 75 years worth of HoF classes to run through. If I were to dedicate this blog to just HoF classes in an attempt to catch up, ignoring all other themes and series I am running, then one year from now I would still be playing catch up. At least I have a supply of content for the next while...

Anyway, the 1949 class gave us another first when it came to the voting. In the last update, I mentioned how the voters have the option for a run-off election if their first vote did not result in anyone getting the required 75%. This situation came about in 1949, with the highest percentage going to Charlie Gehringer at 66.7%. The top 20 losers all advanced to the run-off round, where only Gehringer received the necessary votes. Some men get elected on their first ballot, others need all 15 (or 10) ballots to gain entry and we never judge a player on how many attempts they needed...but Charlie lost, and still was given a loophole.

For what it's worth, all 20 men who were involved in that run-off vote ultimately did end up in the Hall of Fame, so it's not unreasonable to assume that Gehringer would have *eventually* been immortalized properly. It just feels dirty that he lost, but was deemed to be worthy anyway.

Meanwhile, the Old-Timers Committee gathered and submitted Kid Nichols and Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown to stand with Gehringer for 1949.

The run-off rule was eliminated after 1949, and the Old-Timers Committee did not meet, so when no one got 75% on the ballot, 1950 became the first year in which a vote took place where no new members were elected to the Hall of Fame.