Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1972
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1972 followed the system established one year earlier. The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected three: Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax, and Early Wynn. The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It also selected three people: Lefty Gomez, Will Harridge, and Ross Youngs. The Negro Leagues Committee met for the second time and selected Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard.
BBWAA election
The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1952 or later, but not after 1966; the ballot included candidates from the 1971 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 1966. 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 46 players; a total of 396 ballots were cast, with 297 votes required for election. A total of 3,083 individual votes were cast, an average of 7.79 per ballot.
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a †. The three candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics.
Bobo Newsom and Charlie Keller were on the ballot for the final time.
| Elected to the Hall. These individuals are also indicated in bold italics. | |
| Players who were elected in future elections. These individuals are also indicated in plain italics. | |
| Players not yet elected who returned on the 1973 ballot. | |
| Eliminated from future BBWAA voting. These individuals remain eligible for future Veterans Committee consideration. |
| Player | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| †Sandy Koufax | 344 | 86.9 |
| Yogi Berra | 339 | 85.6 |
| Early Wynn | 301 | 76.0 |
| Ralph Kiner | 235 | 59.3 |
| Gil Hodges | 161 | 40.7 |
| Johnny Mize | 157 | 39.6 |
| Enos Slaughter | 149 | 37.6 |
| Pee Wee Reese | 129 | 32.6 |
| Marty Marion | 120 | 30.3 |
| Bob Lemon | 117 | 29.5 |
| George Kell | 115 | 29.0 |
| Allie Reynolds | 105 | 26.5 |
| Red Schoendienst | 104 | 26.3 |
| Phil Rizzuto | 103 | 26.0 |
| Hal Newhouser | 92 | 23.2 |
| Duke Snider | 84 | 21.2 |
| Nellie Fox | 64 | 16.2 |
| Phil Cavarretta | 61 | 15.4 |
| Alvin Dark | 55 | 13.9 |
| Dom DiMaggio | 36 | 9.1 |
| Bobo Newsom | 31 | 7.8 |
| Charlie Keller | 24 | 6.1 |
| Johnny Sain | 21 | 5.3 |
| Mickey Vernon | 12 | 3.0 |
| Richie Ashburn | 11 | 2.8 |
| Ted Kluszewski | 10 | 2.5 |
| Bobby Thomson | 10 | 2.5 |
| Harvey Haddix | 9 | 2.3 |
| †Roy McMillan | 9 | 2.3 |
| Bobby Shantz | 9 | 2.3 |
| Walker Cooper | 8 | 2.0 |
| †Bobby Richardson | 8 | 2.0 |
| Don Newcombe | 7 | 1.8 |
| Harry Brecheen | 5 | 1.3 |
| Dutch Leonard | 5 | 1.3 |
| Carl Erskine | 4 | 1.0 |
| Gil McDougald | 4 | 1.0 |
| Billy Pierce | 4 | 1.0 |
| Vic Raschi | 4 | 1.0 |
| Vic Wertz | 4 | 1.0 |
| Vic Power | 3 | 0.8 |
| Roy Sievers | 3 | 0.8 |
| Carl Furillo | 2 | 0.5 |
| Ed Lopat | 2 | 0.5 |
| Preacher Roe | 2 | 0.5 |
| Jackie Jensen | 1 | 0.3 |
The field of newly eligible players included 21 All Stars, including 18 who were not on the ballot, representing 77 All-Star selections. Included in the new class were 11-time All-Star Del Crandall, 8-time All-Stars Frank Malzone and Bobby Richardson, 7-time All-Star Sandy Koufax, 6-time All-Star Ed Bailey and 5-time All-Star Bob Purkey.
External links
- 1972 Election at www.baseballhalloffame.org
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