Exactly which Baseball Writers get to vote for the Baseball Hall Of Fame?

Question

I was watching thing thing on HBO and Baseball, and they were talking about the HOF , so it got me thinking which writers vote .

thanks :]

Answer 1

Puhleze Chipmaker will you ring in on this and set everybody's mind at ease?

Answer 2

Looking at the last 10 - 15 years, the idiot ones.

Answer 3

RULES FOR ELECTION BY THE BASEBALL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

1. Authorization: By authorization of the Board of Directors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc., the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is authorized to hold an election every year for the purpose of electing members to the National Baseball Hall of Fame from the ranks of retired baseball players.

2. Electors: Only active and honorary members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, who have been active baseball writers for at least ten (10) years, shall be eligible to vote. They must have been active as baseball writers and members of the Association for a period beginning at least ten (10) years prior to the date of election in which they are voting

So pretty much they must be active baseball writers.

Answer 4

its a vote from the baseball writers of america

Answer 5

The ten highest point collectors from the Y!A Baseball forum get to start voting in 2009.

Answer 6

Players are currently inducted into the Hall of Fame through election by either the Baseball Writers Association of America (or BBWAA), or the Veterans Committee, which is now composed of living Hall of Famers; additional special committees, some including recipients of the two major awards, are also regularly formed to make selections.

Answer 7

I really LIKE rasta's idea -- but Chris13 basically nailed it. Members of the BBWAA who have been covering a team or other baseball beat for ten years continuously, plus a bunch of emeritus members -- olde-tyme writers, senior sports editors, basically lifetime members who no longer have to write any sort of daily or weekly material but probably spit out the occasional opinion piece or commentary, and who do not often go to games. Then subtract out a few whose employers refuse to let them participate (particularly the NY Times -- no, I don't know why). The entire headcount is in the 550-600 range these days, judging by total returned ballots.

That's the voting qualified members of the BBWAA, anyway, which the Hall uses as its primary electoral college. The Veterans Committee got totally revamped in mid-2007 and is now quite complex, as the entire VC membership does not vote on any of the four ballots currently under its purview. Each of the four ballots has a different subcommittee as electorate, one of which is composed of living HOFers, the other three Hall Board-appointed groups of up to 16 voters. If you really want to know more about the current VC format, read my blog entry on the revamp, linked below.