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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 7, 2015

Nashville, Tennessee

BRAD HORN: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 2015 National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Pre-Integration Era Committee announcement.

My name is Brad Horn with the National Baseball Hall of Fame. After today's program, we will take a moderated Q&A for members of the media with a microphone that will be passed along.

Before we begin today, to introduce to you the dais from your right, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com; Tal Smith, former Houston Astros Major League Baseball executive; Bert Blyleven from the Hall of Fame Class of 2011; all representing the 16-member Pre-Integration Era Committee, along with Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Now, for today's announcement, please welcome the chairman of the board of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Jane Forbes Clark.

JANE FORBES CLARK: Thank you, Brad, and thank all of you for being here today.

As you all know, the Baseball Hall of Fame's 16-member Pre-Integration Era Committee met here in Nashville yesterday to consider ten candidates whose greatest contributions were realized from the game's origins through 1946 for Hall of Fame election.

I would like to introduce to you the members of that 16-member committee, some of whom are here today in the front row and are on the dais, and those of you who are here, I'd like to ask you to stand when I call your name: Chuck Armstrong, Bert Blyleven, Bobby Cox, Bill DeWitt, Pat Gillick, Steve Hirdt, Gary Hughes, Peter Morris, Phil Niekro, Jack O'Connell, Claire Smith, Tal Smith, Tim Sullivan, T.R. Sullivan, Gary Thorne, and Tim Wendel.

The ballot, selected by an 11-member historical overview committee of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, was comprised of six former players, four executives, pioneers. The discussions yesterday of the ten candidates were extensive, they were forthright, and each candidate was given a most thorough review by the members of this committee.

12 votes were needed to reach the 75 percent necessary to earn election to the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, no one received those necessary 12 votes. The vote totals are as follows: Daniel "Doc" Adams, ten votes; Bill Dahlen and Harry Stovey, eight votes each; Samuel Breadon, Wes Ferrell, Garry Herrmann, Marty Marion, Frank McCormick, Chris von der Ahe, and Bucky Walters each received three or fewer votes.

The results of this committee's work and their voting are a reminder that Hall of Fame election remains the highest and most difficult honor to attain in baseball. And on behalf of the board of directors of the Hall of Fame, I would very much like to thank each member of the committee for their work yesterday, and I'd like to remind all of you that on Wednesday, January 6, the Baseball Writers' Association of America and the Hall of Fame will announce the results of their 2016 election. The induction ceremony will be held in Cooperstown on Sunday, July 24, 2016.

I thank you very much and turn the podium back over to Brad.

BRAD HORN: Members of the media, a press release will be issued momentarily with the vote totals, and you can also find those at baseballhall.org.

Q. I'm wondering for you people in the Hall of Fame, now that nobody was elected from pre-1946, during this time that you spent, is there any reason to continue to look at this era and vote on it?
JEFF IDELSON: We have a great era committee, era system in place that we like very much. It's something that we constantly review.

Three years ago, not this same committee, but this same scenario resulted in three electees from that era. So it's something that we'll look at, and we always look at, along with BBWA voting. As I said, we have a good system in place right now.

Q. Given that this is the Pre-Integration Committee and it's devoted to discussing whether the candidates before Jackie Robinson came along are viable for the Hall of Fame, why aren't there any Negro League candidates involved in this election? I believe this is the second straight time that this has been an all-white slate.
JEFF IDELSON: When we had our last Negro League selection in 2006, which was a special election which resulted in 16 members from the Negro League's community being elected, at that time we indicated that the books were closed on the Negro Leagues, pending more information that came forth from the research community.

So that's something that we addressed ten years ago, so it's not unusual that they are not a part of these slates.

BRAD HORN: Ladies and gentlemen, committee members will be available for a very brief time. We thank you for your time and attention this morning.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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