Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1964 followed the system introduced for even-number years in 1962. The

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known ...

(BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players with provision for a second, "runoff" election in the event of no player receiving enough votes for induction. The runoff was necessary this year, with

Luke Appling Lucius Benjamin "Luke" Appling (April 2, 1907 – January 3, 1991), nicknamed "Old Aches and Pains" was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago White Sox (1930–1950). He was elected to the Base ...

the winner. Further, the eligibility of retired players was reduced from having retired 30 years prior to election to 20 years prior. Meanwhile, the

Veterans Committee The Veterans Committee is the popular name of various committees of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum that elect participants other than recently retired players. Originally, it referenced the National Baseball Hall of Fame Committee ...

was meeting annually to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected six people:

Red Faber Urban Clarence "Red" Faber (September 6, 1888 – September 25, 1976) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from through , playing his entire career for the Chicago White Sox. He was a member of the 1919 team but was no ...

Burleigh Grimes Burleigh Arland Grimes (August 18, 1893 – December 6, 1985) was an American professional baseball player and manager, and the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball. Grimes made the most of this advantage, as well as his unshav ...

, Miller Huggins,

Tim Keefe Timothy John Keefe (January 1, 1857 – April 23, 1933), nicknamed "Smiling Tim" and "Sir Timothy", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He stood tall and weighed . He was one of the most dominating pitchers of the 19th century and po ...

Heinie Manush Henry Emmett Manush (July 20, 1901 – May 12, 1971), nicknamed "Heinie", was an American baseball outfielder. He played professional baseball for 20 years from 1920 to 1939, including 17 years in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1 ...

, and

John Montgomery Ward John Montgomery Ward (March 3, 1860 – March 4, 1925), known as Monte Ward, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher, shortstop, second baseman, third baseman, manager, executive, union organizer, owner and author. Ward, of English descent ...

. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on July 27, 1964, with

Commissioner of Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

Ford Frick Ford Christopher Frick (December 19, 1894 – April 8, 1978) was an American sportswriter and baseball executive. After working as a teacher and as a sportswriter for the ''New York American'', he served as public relations director of the Natio ...

presiding.

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1944 or later, but not after 1958. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote. Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. A total of 58 players received votes; 201 ballots were cast, with 151 votes required for election. A total of 1,632 individual votes were cast, an average of 8.12 per ballot. No one reached the threshold so there was a runoff election featuring the 30 leading candidates. There would be one winner regardless of numerical support on the second ballot; in fact, winner Luke Appling tallied 189 of 201 votes or 94%. A total of 939 individual votes were cast in the runoff, an average of 4.67 per ballot. Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). Candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in ''italics''.

Al López Alfonso Ramón López (August 20, 1908 – October 30, 2005) was a Spanish-American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Robins / Dodgers, Boston Bees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cle ...

was later elected as a manager.

Chuck Klein Charles Herbert Klein (October 7, 1904 – March 28, 1958), nicknamed the "Hoosier Hammer", was an American professional baseball outfielder. Klein played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–, –, –), Chicago Cubs ...

Lloyd Waner Lloyd James Waner (March 16, 1906 – July 22, 1982), nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. His small stature at and 132 lb (68 kg)

Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning ab ...

Leo Durocher Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an infie ...

, and

Lon Warneke Lonnie Warneke (March 28, 1909 – June 23, 1976) (pronounced WARN-a-key), nicknamed "The Arkansas Hummingbird", was a Major League Baseball player, Major League umpire, county judge, and businessman from Montgomery County, Arkansas, whose caree ...

were on the ballot for the final time. The runoff results show that voters in the second election concentrated their support on the four leaders. Primary results indicate significant gains among returning candidates, with eight players gaining 20 percentage points or more. Between 1962 and 1964, the Hall of Fame reduced eligibility for players to be voted on by the BBWAA from having been retired for at most 30 years to those who had been retired for at most 20 years. This removed numerous popular candidates, including

Sam Rice Edgar Charles "Sam" Rice (February 20, 1890 – October 13, 1974) was an American pitcher and outfielder in Major League Baseball. Although Rice made his debut as a relief pitcher, he is best known as an outfielder. Playing for the Washington Se ...

, who had received the most votes among players not elected. Among the 17 candidates to receive at least 10% of the vote in 1962, nine were no longer eligible due to the rule change. Combined with the two candidates who were elected, this meant that of the 17 candidates to receive 10% or more in 1962, only six were appearing on this ballot.

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Wo ...

(1885–1933) received the

J. G. Taylor Spink Award The BBWAA Career Excellence Award, formerly the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). It is given "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and voted on annually by ...

honoring a baseball writer. The award was voted at the December 1963 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1964 ceremonies.

References

External links

1964 Election
at www.baseballhalloffame.org
1964 Runoff Election
at www.baseballhalloffame.org {{Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Hall of Fame balloting Hall of Fame balloting