1937 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting


The 1937 process of selecting inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame was markedly different from the initial elections the previous year. As only half of the initial goal of 10 inductees had been selected in 1936, members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America were once again given authority to select any players active in the 20th century; but the unsuccessful 1936 Veterans Committee election for 19th-century players led to a smaller Centennial Commission choosing a handful of inductees whose contributions were largely as non-players.
In the BBWAA election, voters were again instructed to cast votes for 10 candidates, but were now discouraged from casting votes for active players, although some player-managers whose playing days were largely over, such as Rogers Hornsby, received votes. Any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall upon its opening in the sport's supposed centennial year of 1939. Again, individuals who had been barred from baseball were not formally ineligible; Hal Chase received some votes, although Shoeless Joe Jackson did not. Balloting by the BBWAA resulted in the election of three players: Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker, and Cy Young.

BBWAA vote

A total of 201 ballots were cast, with 1,949 individual votes for 113 specific candidates, an average of 9.70 per ballot; 151 votes were required for election. Selections were announced on January 19, 1937. The three candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics.
PlayerVotesPercentChange
Nap Lajoie16883.6 19.0%
Tris Speaker16582.1 23.3%
Cy Young15376.1 27.0%
Grover Cleveland Alexander12562.2 37.9%
Eddie Collins11557.2 30.7%
Willie Keeler11557.2 39.5%
George Sisler10652.7 18.6%
Ed Delahanty7034.8 27.3%
Rube Waddell6733.3 18.7%
Jimmy Collins6029.9 4.2%
Ed Walsh5627.9 19.1%
Rogers Hornsby5326.4 20.1%
Frank Chance4924.4 22.2%
Johnny Evers4421.9 19.2%
Roger Bresnahan4321.4 0.6%
John McGraw3517.4 15.6%
Mordecai Brown3115.4 12.7%
Rabbit Maranville2512.4-
Ray Schalk2411.9 10.1%
Eddie Plank2311.4-
Fred Clarke2210.9 10.5%
Johnny Kling2010.0 6.5%
Hal Chase189.0 4.1%
Chief Bender178.5 7.6%
Lou Criger168.0 4.9%
Ross Youngs168.0 3.6%
Herb Pennock157.5-
Joe Tinker157.5-
Frank Baker136.5 6.1%
Rube Marquard136.5 6.1%
Smoky Joe Wood136.5-
Joe McGinnity126.0-
Addie Joss115.5-
Nap Rucker115.5 5.1%
Harry Heilmann105.0-
Edd Roush105.0 4.1%
Dazzy Vance105.0 4.6%
Babe Adams84.0-
Hugh Duffy73.5 1.0%
Jimmy Archer63.0-
Max Carey63.0-
Mike Donlin63.0-
Harry Hooper63.0-
Bill Bradley52.5 2.1%
Bill Carrigan52.5-
Sam Crawford52.5 2.1%
Miller Huggins52.5-
Wilbert Robinson52.5-
Fred Tenney52.5-
Zack Wheat52.5-
Earle Combs42.0-
Clark Griffith42.0-
Hughie Jennings42.0-
Nick Altrock31.5-
Dave Bancroft31.5-
George Burns31.5-
Wild Bill Donovan31.5-
Red Faber31.5-
Duffy Lewis31.5-
Art Nehf31.5-
Roger Peckinpaugh31.5-
Marty Bergen21.0-
Ping Bodie21.0-
Jack Coombs21.0-
Gavvy Cravath21.0-
Jake Daubert21.0-
Larry Doyle21.0-
Art Fletcher21.0-
Hank Gowdy21.0-
Hans Lobert21.0-
Sherry Magee21.0-
Ossee Schreckengost21.0-
Everett Scott21.0-
Ted Breitenstein10.5-
Jesse Burkett10.5-
Donie Bush10.5-
Jack Chesbro10.5-
Bill Cissell10.5-
Shano Collins10.5-
Red Dooin10.5-
Joe Dugan10.5-
Kid Elberfeld10.5 0.1%
Cy Falkenberg10.5-
Kid Gleason10.5-
Burleigh Grimes10.5-
Heinie Groh10.5-
Bill Hinchman10.5-
Joe Judge10.5-
Dickey Kerr10.5-
Tommy Leach10.5-
Sam Leever10.5-
Herman Long10.5-
Dolf Luque10.5-
Stuffy McInnis10.5-
Larry McLean10.5-
Bob Meusel10.5-
Hack Miller10.5-
Pat Moran10.5-
Danny Murphy10.5-
Red Murray10.5-
Dode Paskert10.5-
Bugs Raymond10.5-
Eppa Rixey10.5-
Dick Rudolph10.5-
Amos Rusie10.5-
Frank Schulte10.5-
Joe Sewell10.5-
Harry Steinfeldt10.5-
Gabby Street10.5-
Billy Sullivan10.5 0.5%
Bobby Veach10.5-
Bobby Wallace10.5-
Hack Wilson10.5-

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.

Centennial Commission

After the error-ridden 1936 Veterans election failed to select any 19th-century players, the Hall opted in 1937 to have a small committee select inductees "for outstanding service to base ball apart from playing the game." The Commission's members were: Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis; National League president Ford Frick; American League president Will Harridge; Judge William G. Bramham, president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues ; former NL president John Heydler; and George Trautman, president of the minor league American Association and chairman of the National Association's executive committee. At the December 1937 major league winter meetings in Chicago, Frick announced that the Commission had elected five people. The selections were:
Of the five selectees, only Mack was still living when the selections were made.