1962 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting


Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1962 followed a new system for even-number years. Since 1956 the Baseball Writers' Association of America and Veterans Committee had alternated in their duties, but the BBWAA, voting by mail to select from recent major league players, had elected no one for 1958 and no one for 1960. Now there would be a second, "runoff" election in case of no winner. At the same time, the Veterans Committee resumed meeting annually to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players.
The provision for a runoff was not necessary for this election, as the writers elected two new candidates on their first ballot, Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson. The Veterans Committee selected Bill McKechnie and Edd Roush, both of whom were still alive to be interviewed and invited to the induction ceremonies. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on July 23, 1962, with Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick presiding.

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1932 or later, but not after 1956. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.
Voters were instructed to cast their 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. A total of 78 players received votes; 160 ballots were cast, with 120 votes required for election. A total of 1,090 individual votes were cast, an average of 6.81 per ballot--the first election to average fewer than 8 votes per ballot, and a record low which would stand until 1987.
Eligible for the final time were: Sam Rice, Eppa Rixey, Burleigh Grimes, Hack Wilson, Kiki Cuyler, Red Faber, Jim Bottomley, Lefty Gomez, Waite Hoyt, Heinie Manush, Goose Goslin, Lefty O'Doul, Tony Lazzeri, Chick Hafey, Freddie Lindstrom, Earle Combs, Jimmie Dykes, Jimmie Wilson, Earl Averill, Jesse Haines, Charlie Grimm, Firpo Marberry, Wes Ferrell, Freddie Fitzsimmons, Travis Jackson, George Kelly, Red Rolfe, Luke Sewell, Riggs Stephenson and Glenn Wright.
Many of the above candidates would lose eligibility before the 1964 election due to a rule change affecting the retirement qualifications of those voted on by the BBWAA. While the BBWAA had previously been able to consider those who had been retired between 5 and 30 seasons, after this election the BBWAA were to consider those who had been retired between 5 and 20 seasons. Among the candidates who were affected by this rule change and would not appear on the 1964 BBWAA ballot, the top two vote receivers were elected by the Veterans Committee in 1963.
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated with a dagger.
PlayerVotesPercentChange
Bob Feller15093.8-
Jackie Robinson12477.5-
Sam Rice8150.6 2.6%
Red Ruffing7245.0 13.0%
Eppa Rixey4930.6 22.2%
Luke Appling4830.0 3.2%
Phil Rizzuto4427.5-
Burleigh Grimes4326.9 7.3%
Hack Wilson3924.4 2.4%
Joe Medwick3421.3 7.2%
Kiki Cuyler3119.4 7.4%
Red Faber3018.8 12.1%
Jim Bottomley2012.5 20.6%
Lefty Gomez2012.5 6.5%
Waite Hoyt1811.3 0.5%
Chuck Klein1811.3 2.5%
Marty Marion1610.0 3.8%
Heinie Manush159.4 2.0%
Allie Reynolds159.4 0.5%
Goose Goslin148.8 2.4%
Johnny Mize148.8 7.9%
Lefty O'Doul138.1 8.6%
Lou Boudreau127.5 5.5%
Al López116.9 2.8%
Bobby Doerr106.3 0.7%
Tony Lazzeri85.0 16.9%
Chick Hafey74.4 6.4%
Mel Harder74.4 0.1%
Freddie Lindstrom74.4 2.2%
Earle Combs63.8 12.2%
Jimmy Dykes63.8 6.2%
Pepper Martin63.8 7.0%
Earl Whitehill63.8 2.7%
Arky Vaughan63.8 0.1%
Ralph Kiner53.1 2.0%
Ernie Lombardi53.1 0.9%
Johnny Vander Meer53.1 8.4%
Bucky Walters53.1 4.0%
Lloyd Waner53.1 5.1%
Joe Gordon42.5 1.6%
Billy Herman42.5 0.1%
Hal Newhouser42.5-
Jimmie Wilson42.5 0.3%
Earl Averill31.9 2.2%
Jesse Haines31.9 5.5%
Tommy Henrich31.9 1.8%
Bobo Newsom31.9 0.3%
†Phil Cavarretta21.3-
Spud Chandler21.3-
Dom DiMaggio21.3 0.2%
Charlie Grimm21.3 3.5%
Firpo Marberry21.3 0.6%
Lon Warneke21.3 0.2%
Tommy Bridges10.6 0.9%
George Case10.6 0.2%
†Billy Cox10.6-
Doc Cramer10.6 0.2%
Leo Durocher10.6 3.1%
Bob Elliott10.6 0.1%
Wes Ferrell10.6 2.4%
Freddie Fitzsimmons10.6 4.2%
†Fred Hutchinson10.6-
Travis Jackson10.6 3.5%
Charlie Keller10.6 2.0%
George Kelly10.6 1.3%
Frank McCormick10.6-
Terry Moore10.6 2.0%
†Vic Raschi10.6-
Preacher Roe10.6 0.2%
Red Rolfe10.6 3.1%
†Johnny Sain10.6-
Hal Schumacher10.6 3.5%
Luke Sewell10.6 0.5%
†Rip Sewell10.6-
Riggs Stephenson10.6 0.9%
†Dixie Walker10.6-
Glenn Wright10.6 6.1%
Rudy York10.6-

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.