Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1978

The 1978 elections to select inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame followed the same system in use since 1968. The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) held an election to select among recent players. The BBWAA election applied a 75% rule to all eligible players, while the Veterans Committee met in closed-door sessions to select from players ineligible for the BBWAA election, as well as managers and executives.

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1958 or later, but not after 1972; the ballot included candidates from the 1977 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 1972. 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 36 players; a total of 379 ballots were cast, with 285 votes required for election. 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 †. The one candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in "bold italics"; candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in "italics". The 14 candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with a *.

Roberto Clemente, who died during the 1972 season, was included on the 1973 ballot under a standard provision for players who die before the five-year waiting period has elapsed.

Players eligible for the first time who were "not" included on the ballot were: Ted Abernathy, Joe Azcue, John Bateman, Wade Blasingame, Don Buford, Donn Clendenon, Tony Cloninger, Moe Drabowsky, Joe Gibbon, Tom Haller, Steve Hamilton, Ron Hansen, Joe Horlen, Julian Javier, Denny Lemaster, J.C. Martin, Don Mincher, Gary Peters, Phil Regan, Jim Roland, Ron Taylor, Stan Williams, and Bobby Wine.

External links

* [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/voting_year.jsp?year=1978 1978 Election] at www.baseballhalloffame.org