1986 Hall of Fame

 Anyone else remember the movie Mr. 3000? It's Bernie Mac film about a cocky hitter retiring with exactly 3000 Hits, only to be snubbed from the Hall of Fame because the writers didn't like his attitude. Then when a stat correction put him down to 2997 Hits, he completely falls off the ballot. He then suits up again long after his prime to try to get those Hits back, only to fall 1 Hit shy, but then he appears on the next possible ballot and gets the votes he needs because he learned his lesson about teamwork or something. If you're wondering "How did they let him back on the ballot if he was already disqualified?" then I have an answer for you: because he officially played again, it reset his ballot qualifications. That brings us to Minnie Minoso.

Minnie Minoso had a distinguished career that had ended in 1964. On his first attempt on the 1969 Hall of Fame ballot, he only garnered 1.8% of the vote. And that was that.

...But then he came back for 3 games in 1976, and before that could reset his 5 year wait, he then had 2 At Bats in 1980, which is enough justification to have him back on the ballot for 1986. This time, Minnie pulled off a more respectable 20.9% so he'd be back next year. And while he could find a loophole to the "5% or you're gone" rule, there was no getting around the 15 year limit...or in his case, 14 year. Turns out, your 15 years on the ballot don't have to be consecutive, so that 1969 showing still counted. And after 13 more failed years, Minnie Minoso would finally be taken off the BBWAA ballot for good in 1999. He still had the Veterans Committee, which after several failed attempts there as well, finally granted him Hall of Fame status in 2022.

As for the 1986 vote, Willie McCovey would get in on his 1st and only attempt, while the Veterans Committee, still a long way from getting Minoso's name on their own ballots, added a couple other men to the class.