1938 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting


The 1938 elections to select inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame were conducted along much the same lines as the 1937 vote. Toward the goal of 10 initial inductees from the 20th century, eight had now been selected; members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America were once again given authority to select any players active in the 20th century, excepting active players. The Centennial Commission retained the responsibility of selecting inductees whose contributions were largely as non-players.
As the obvious stars had already been elected, only pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander was selected via the BBWAA ballot. The Centennial Commission selected Alexander Cartwright and Henry Chadwick.

BBWAA vote

In the BBWAA election, voters were instructed to cast votes for 10 candidates. 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. Individuals who had been barred from baseball, though not formally ineligible, no longer received even the minimal support given them in the two prior elections.
A total of 262 ballots were cast, with 2,475 individual votes for 120 specific candidates, an average of 9.45 per ballot; 197 votes were required for election. The balloting was dominated by players of the 1900s and 1910s, rather than those of the more recent two decades; the results were announced in January 1938. The sole candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics:
PlayerVotesPercentChange
Grover Cleveland Alexander21280.9 18.7%
George Sisler17968.3 15.6%
Willie Keeler17767.6 10.4%
Eddie Collins17566.8 9.6%
Rube Waddell14856.5 23.2%
Frank Chance13350.8 26.4%
Ed Delahanty13250.4 15.6%
Ed Walsh11042.0 14.1%
Johnny Evers9134.7 12.8%
Jimmy Collins7930.2 2.6%
Rabbit Maranville7327.9 15.5%
Roger Bresnahan6725.6 4.2%
Fred Clarke6324.0 13.1%
Mordecai Brown5420.6 5.2%
Miller Huggins4818.3 15.8%
Rogers Hornsby4617.6 8.8%
Ray Schalk4517.2 5.3%
Ross Youngs4015.3 7.3%
Eddie Plank3814.5 3.1%
Herb Pennock3714.1 6.6%
Joe McGinnity3613.7 7.7%
Chief Bender3312.6 4.1%
Frank Baker3212.2 5.7%
Johnny Kling269.9 0.1%
Hugh Duffy249.2 5.7%
Hughie Jennings238.8 6.8%
Addie Joss186.9 1.4%
Wilbert Robinson176.5 4.0%
Joe Tinker166.1 1.4%
Harry Heilmann145.3 0.3%
Nap Rucker124.6 0.9%
Babe Adams114.2 0.2%
Sam Crawford114.2 1.7%
Lou Criger114.2 3.8%
Clark Griffith103.8 1.8%
Rube Marquard103.8 2.7%
Dazzy Vance103.8 1.2%
Edd Roush93.4 1.6%
Hank Gowdy83.1 2.1%
Amos Rusie83.1 2.6%
Fred Tenney83.1 0.6%
Nick Altrock72.7 1.2%
Jimmy Archer72.7 0.3%
Earle Combs72.7 0.7%
Bill Terry72.7-
Bobby Wallace72.7 2.2%
Zack Wheat72.7 0.2%
Max Carey62.3 0.7%
Smoky Joe Wood62.3 4.2%
Mike Donlin51.9 1.1%
Duffy Lewis51.9 0.4%
Art Nehf51.9 0.4%
Bill Carrigan41.5 1.0%
Bill Dinneen41.5-
Larry Doyle41.5 0.5%
Harry Hooper41.5 1.5%
Stuffy McInnis41.5 1.0%
Jack Barry31.1-
George Burns31.1 0.4%
Art Fletcher31.1 0.1%
Heinie Groh31.1 0.6%
Dickey Kerr31.1 0.6%
Kid Nichols31.1-
Pie Traynor31.1-
Dave Bancroft20.8 0.7%
Bill Bradley20.8 1.7%
Jesse Burkett20.8 0.3%
Jack Chesbro20.8 0.3%
Jack Coombs20.8 0.2%
Gavvy Cravath20.8 0.2%
Kid Elberfeld20.8 0.3%
Eddie Foster20.8-
Joe Judge20.8 0.3%
Sherry Magee20.8 0.2%
Roger Peckinpaugh20.8 0.7%
Eppa Rixey20.8 0.3%
Ossee Schreckengost20.8 0.2%
Everett Scott20.8 0.2%
Casey Stengel20.8-
Ginger Beaumont10.4-
Marty Bergen10.4 0.6%
Ray Chapman10.4-
Andy Coakley10.4-
Wilbur Cooper10.4-
Stan Coveleski10.4-
Doc Crandall10.4-
Walton Cruise10.4-
Bill Dahlen10.4-
Jake Daubert10.4 0.6%
Wild Bill Donovan10.4 1.1%
Red Dooin10.4 0.1%
Joe Dugan10.4 0.1%
Howard Ehmke10.4-
Red Faber10.4 1.1%
Elmer Flick10.4-
Kid Gleason10.4 0.1%
Eddie Grant10.4-
Burleigh Grimes10.4 0.1%
Bucky Harris10.4-
Buck Herzog10.4-
Charlie Irwin10.4-
Fielder Jones10.4-
Arlie Latham10.4-
Hans Lobert10.4 0.6%
Herman Long10.4 0.1%
Dolf Luque10.4 0.1%
Firpo Marberry10.4-
Bob Meusel10.4 0.1%
Clyde Milan10.4-
Pat Moran10.4 0.1%
Red Murray10.4 0.1%
Hub Perdue10.4-
Sam Rice10.4-
Jimmy Sheckard10.4-
Urban Shocker10.4-
Jake Stahl10.4-
Gabby Street10.4 0.1%
Ira Thomas10.4-
Cy Williams10.4-
Chief Zimmer10.4-

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

Once again, the Hall opted to have this small committee of six members select inductees "for outstanding service to base ball apart from playing the game." After selecting five individuals in 1937, the Commission chose two inductees at the major league winter meetings in New York City in December 1938, though the choices were not announced until the following month: