Home > Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1936
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The first elections to select inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame were held in 1936. Members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) were given authority to select individuals from the 20th century; while a special Veterans Committee, made up of individuals with greater familiarity with the 19th century game, was polled to select deserving individuals from that era. The intent was for 15 honorees to be selected before the 1939 ceremonies - 10 from the 20th century and 5 from the 19th; additional players from both eras would be selected in later years. Voters were given free rein to decide for themselves in which group a candidate belonged, with neither group knowing the outcome of the other election; some candidates had their vote split between the elections as a result - Cy Young, the winningest pitcher in history, finished 8th in the BBWAA vote and 4th in the Veterans vote. In addition, there was no prohibition on voting for active players, a number of whom received votes. Individuals who had been thrown out of baseball - such as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Hal Chase - were also not formally excluded, though few voters chose to include them on ballots.
In the BBWAA election, voters were instructed to cast votes for 10 candidates, the same number of desired selections; in the Veterans' election, voters were also instructed to vote for 10, although the desire for only 5 initial selections led to revisions in the way the votes were counted. Any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots in either election would be honored with induction to the Hall upon its opening in the sport's supposed centennial year of 1939.
1 The BBWAA vote
A total of 226 ballots were cast, with 2231 individual votes for 47 specific candidates; 170 votes were required for election. Initial ballots included 33 players listed as suggestions, although revised ballots were later sent with an additional 7 names; when questions arose about players who had been omitted, voters needed to be reminded that these names were simply intended as suggestions rather than the entire field of possibilities, and that write-in votes were fully allowed. Candidates who were listed on the ballot as suggestions are indicated here with a †. The five 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:
- † Ty Cobb - 222
- † Babe Ruth - 215
- † Honus Wagner - 215
- † Christy Mathewson - 205
- † Walter Johnson - 189
- † Nap Lajoie - 146
- † Tris Speaker1911 American Tobacco Company baseball card (Gold Borders (T205). Tristram E. Speaker ( April 4, 1888 December 8, 1958) was a star player in Major League Baseball, and is generally regarded as the best defensive center fielder to ever play the game. Speak - 133
- † Cy Young - 111
- † Rogers HornsbyRogers Hornsby member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, was born April 27, 1896, in Winters, Texas, and died January 5, 1963, in Chicago, Illinois. Nicknamed "The Rajah", Hornsby played most of his career in St. Louis (for the St. Louis Browns and the St. - 105
- † Mickey CochraneGordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane ( April 6, 1903- June 28, 1962) was a professional baseball player ( catcher) for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers. New York Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle was named after Cochrane. Also known as "Black M - 80
- † George SislerGeorge Harold Sisler ( March 24, 1893 March 26, 1973), nicknamed "Gorgeous George," was an American star in Major League Baseball, and one of the greatest fielding first basemen of all time. He set hitting records which no one has equalled in the last eig - 77
- † Eddie CollinsEdward Trowbridge Collins Sr. May 2, 1887 March 25, 1951), nicknamed "Cocky", was a Major League Baseball player from 1906 to 1930. Under the win shares statistical rating system created by baseball historian and analyst Bill James, Collins was the best s - 60
- † Jimmy CollinsJames Joseph Collins ( January 16, 1870 March 6, 1943) was a Major League Baseball player at the turn of the 20th century who was widely regarded as being the American League's best third baseman prior to Brooks Robinson. Collins joined the league in 1895 - 58
- † Grover Cleveland AlexanderPhiladelphia Phillies in 1915. Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander ( February 26, 1887, Elba, NE November 4, 1950, St. Paul, NE) was a professional baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. Alexander was one of th - 55
- † Lou GehrigLudwig Heinrich Gehrig americanized Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig ( June 19, 1903 June 2, 1941) was a baseball player and member of the United States Baseball Hall of Fame. He was born on Manhattan island in New York, New York, the son of German immigrants. - 51
- † Roger Bresnahan - 47
- † Willie Keeler - 40
- † Rube Waddell - 33
- † Jimmie Foxx - 21
- † Ed Walsh - 20
- † Ed Delahanty - 17
- † Pie Traynor - 16
- † Frankie Frisch - 14
- † Lefty Grove - 12
- Hal Chase - 11
- † Ross Youngs - 10
- † Bill Terry - 9
- † Johnny Kling - 8
- † Lou Criger - 7
- † Mordecai Brown - 6
- † Johnny Evers - 6
- Frank Chance - 5
- John McGraw - 4
- † Ray Schalk - 4
- † Al Simmons - 4
- † Chief Bender - 2
- Joe Jackson - 2
- † Edd Roush - 2
- Frank Baker - 1
- † Bill Bradley - 1
- Fred Clarke - 1
- Sam Crawford - 1
- Kid Elberfeld - 1
- Connie Mack - 1
- † Rube Marquard - 1
- Nap Rucker - 1
- † Dazzy Vance - 1
- † Charlie Gehringer - 0
- † Gabby Hartnett - 0
- † Billy Sullivan - 0
