On Monday the baseball Hall of Fame's Golden Era committee was tasked with voting on 10 candidates who played between 1947 and 1972. A day prior, a Hall of Famer from the dead-ball era had his player card sold for over $400,000.
The Hall of Fame announced the results of the Golden Era committee's vote as the MLB Winter Meetings began. None of the 10 candidates who were on the ballot received enough votes to be inducted. They include Dick Allen (11), Tony Oliva (11), Jim Kaat (10), Maury Wills (9), Minnie Minoso (8), Ken Boyer (3 or fewer), Gil Hodges (3 or fewer), Bob Howsam (3 or fewer), Billy Pierce (3 or fewer) and Luis Tiant (3 or fewer).
Allen and Oliva led with 68.8% of all ballots, but they fell short by one vote. Each candidate needs 75% to earn a Hall of Fame election, which equates to 12 votes since the committee is made up of 16 members. The Golden Era committee was established in 2010 and consists of eight Hall of Famers, four veteran baseball executives and four historians/media members who are tasked with electing eligible candidates who are not eligible by the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot.
According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, those on this specific committee included Hall of Famers Jim Bunning, Rod Carew, Pat Gillick, Ferguson Jenkins, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan, Ozzie Smith and Don Sutton; baseball executives Jim Frey, David Glass, Roland Hemond and Bob Watson; and media members Steve Hirdt, Dick Kaegel, Phil Pepe and Tracy Ringolsby.
Speaking of Hall of Famers, Honus Wagner was inducted back in 1936 after a 21-year career that ended with a stat line of .328/.391/.467 to go along with 3,420 hits, 1,733 RBIs and 723 stolen bases. He played during the dead-ball era, which is shown in his total home run count of 101 (an average of 4.81 per season). Wagner, considered to be one of the best players of all time, was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates for most of his career. His baseball card is highly valued in the auction world.
The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card was auctioned off on Sunday for $403,664. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) between 1909 and 1911. Between 60 and 200 baseball cards of Wagner exist because the Hall of Fame shortstop did not want his card produced by the ATC since it sent a negative message to children in terms of smoking. However, Wagner was a smoker, so some believed he was upset that he wasn't being paid for the distribution and sale of his image.
The record sale for one of these cards is $2.1 million.
