Elections to the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

for 1981 followed the system in place since 1978. 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 fo ...

(BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

. 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 ...

met in closed sessions to consider older major league players as well as managers, umpires, executives, and figures from the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. It selected

Rube Foster Andrew "Rube" Foster (September 17, 1879 – December 9, 1930) was an American baseball player, manager, and executive in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Foster, considered by historians to have been per ...

and

Johnny Mize John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "The Big Cat", was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons between 1936 an ...

. Foster would be one of two people from the Negro leagues elected in seventeen years, before introduction of a separate ballot in 1995. A formal induction ceremony was held in

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

, on August 2, 1981, 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 ...

Bowie Kuhn Bowie Kent Kuhn (; October 28, 1926 – March 15, 2007) was an American lawyer and sports administrator who served as the fifth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from February 4, 1969, to September 30, 1984. He served as legal counsel for Ma ...

presiding.

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1961 or later, but not after 1975; the ballot included candidates from the 1980 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 1975. 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. The ballot consisted of 39 players; a total of 401 ballots were cast, with 301 votes required for election. A total of 3,026 individual votes were cast, an average of 7.55 per ballot. Those candidates receiving less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee. Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). The one candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected is indicated in ''bold italics''; candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in ''italics''. The 17 candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Ted Kluszewski Theodore Bernard Kluszewski (September 10, 1924 – March 29, 1988), also known as "Big Klu", was an American professional baseball player known for his bulging biceps and mammoth home runs in the 1950s decade. He played from 1947 through 1961 wit ...

was on the ballot for the 15th and final time. The newly-eligible players included 18 All-Stars, three of whom were not included on the ballot, representing a total of 71 All-Star selections. Among the new candidates were 11-time All-Star Harmon Killebrew, 9-time All-Star Juan Marichal, 8-time All-Star Bob Gibson, 7-time All-Star Thurman Munson and 5-time All-Star Leo Cárdenas. The field included three MVPs (Gibson, Killebrew and Munson), two Cy Young Award winners (Bob Gibson, who won twice while receiving MVP in one of those years, and Jim Perry) and one Rookie of the Year (Munson). Players eligible for the first time who were ''not'' included on the ballot were:

Ed Brinkman Edwin Albert Brinkman (December 8, 1941 – September 30, 2008) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a shortstop, for the Washington Senators (1961–19 ...

Danny Cater Danny Anderson Cater (born February 25, 1940) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 18, on June 8, 1958. Cater played in ...

Tom Egan Thomas Patrick Egan (born June 9, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from through for the California Angels and the Chicago White Sox. On September 28, 1974, he caught Nolan ...

Bob Locker Robert Awtry Locker (March 15, 1938 – August 15, 2022) was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1965 to 1975 for five different teams. The sinker-balling Locker never made a start in his big-league career. ...

Tommy McCraw Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

, Jim Merritt,

Gene Michael Eugene Richard Michael (June 2, 1938 – September 7, 2017), known as Stick, was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout, manager and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1966 to 1975, most promine ...

Orlando Peña Orlando Gregorio Peña Guevara (born November 17, 1933) is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher. The right-hander played in Major League Baseball for all or parts of 14 seasons between and for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Athletic ...

, Paul Popovich,

Eddie Watt Eddie Dean Watt (born April 4, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed relief pitcher from through , most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won th ...

Walt Williams Walter Ander "The Wizard" Williams (born April 16, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. A sharpshooting 6'8" forward/guard, Williams attended school at the University of Maryland from 1988 to 1992, and is credited by many ...

and

Clyde Wright Clyde Wright (born February 20, 1941), nicknamed "Skeeter", is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the California Angels (1966–73), Milwauk ...

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

Joe Reichler Joseph Lawrence Reichler (January 1, 1915 – December 12, 1988) was an American sports writer who worked for the Associated Press from 1943 to 1966. He mostly covered the New York City based baseball teams. Reichler also wrote many baseball books, ...

(1915–1988) and

Milton Richman Milton Richman (January 29, 1922 – June 9, 1986) was an American sports columnist and sports editor for United Press International. He was named the 1981 winner of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. ...

(1922–1986) 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 baseball writers. The awards were voted at the December 1980 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1981 ceremonies.

References

External links

1981 Election
at www.baseballhalloffame.org {{Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Hall of Fame balloting Hall of Fame balloting