Elections to the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

for 1985 followed the system in place since 1978. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected two,

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis ...

and Hoyt Wilhelm. The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to consider older major league players as well as managers, umpires, executives, and figures from the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. It also selected two players,

Enos Slaughter Enos Bradsher Slaughter (April 27, 1916 – August 12, 2002), nicknamed "Country", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He played for 19 seasons on four major league teams from 1938 to 1942 and 1946 to 1959. He is noted prima ...

and

Arky Vaughan Joseph Floyd "Arky" Vaughan (March 9, 1912 – August 30, 1952) was an American professional baseball player. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1932 and 1948, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Dodgers, primarily as a s ...

. A formal induction ceremony was held in

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the ...

, on July 28, 1985, with broadcaster

Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was one of the original members ...

handling introductions and Commissioner of Baseball Peter Ueberroth in attendance.

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1965 or later, but not after 1979; the ballot included candidates from the 1984 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 1979. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote. Eleven players, who had previously been dropped from the ballot, were re-listed, following review and approval from a committee of six writers. Added were: Richie Allen,

Ken Boyer Kenton Lloyd "Ken" Boyer (May 20, 1931 – September 7, 1982) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman, coach and manager who played with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers for 15 ...

Clay Carroll Clay Palmer Carroll (born May 2, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won three divisi ...

, Ron Fairly,

Curt Flood Curtis Charles Flood (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and activist. He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, ...

Harvey Haddix Harvey Haddix, Jr. (September 18, 1925 – January 8, 1994) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher and pitching coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1952–1956), Philadelphia Phillies ...

Denny McLain Dennis Dale McLain (born March 29, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for ten seasons in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher, most prominently as a member of the Detroit Tigers. In 1968, McLain beca ...

Dave McNally David Arthur McNally (October 31, 1942 – December 1, 2002) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1962 through 1975, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles d ...

Vada Pinson Vada Edward Pinson Jr. (August 11, 1938 – October 21, 1995) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball for 18 years (1958–1975), most notably for the Cincinnati Reds, for w ...

Ron Santo Ronald Edward Santo (February 25, 1940 – December 3, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1960 through 1973 and the Chicago White Sox in 1974. In 1990, Santo became a member of the ...

, and Wilbur Wood. Ultimately, none of the 11 were elected by the BBWAA, with only Santo gaining entry to the Hall, via selection by the Golden Era Committee in 2012 balloting. Voters were instructed to cast 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. The ballot consisted of 41 players; a total of 395 ballots were cast, with 297 votes required for election. A total of 2,918 individual votes were cast, an average of 7.39 per ballot. Those candidates receiving less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee. Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). The two candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in ''bold italics''; candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in ''italics''. The 18 candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*). Nellie Fox was on the ballot for the 15th and final time. Thurman Munson, who died in a plane crash in 1979, would have been eligible for the first time, but the five-year waiting period was waived. The newly eligible players included 16 All-Stars, two of whom were not included on the ballot, representing a total of 44 All-Star selections. Among the new candidates were 8-time All-Star Catfish Hunter,.and 6-time All-Stars Lou Brock and Don Kessinger. The field included two Cy Young Award-winners (Catfish Hunter and Jim Lonborg), as well as George Scott, whose eight Gold Gloves at first base were a record at the time. Players eligible for the first time who were ''not'' on the ballot were: Darrel Chaney,

Gene Clines Eugene Anthony Clines (October 6, 1946 – January 27, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1970 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Pittsburgh Pira ...

, Joe Coleman, Willie Davis, Frank Duffy,

Ray Fosse Raymond Earl Fosse (April 4, 1947 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as an All-Sta ...

, Ellie Hendricks,

Steve Mingori Steven Bernard Mingori (February 29, 1944 – July 10, 2008) was an American left-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians (1970–1973) and Kansas City Royals (1973–1979). He was born in Kansas Cit ...

, Bob Montgomery, Tom Murphy, Bob Robertson, Wayne Twitchell, and Bobby Valentine.

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

Joe McGuff (1926–2006) received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer. The award was voted at the December 1984 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1985 ceremonies.

References

External links

1985 Election
at www.baseballhalloffame.org {{Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Hall of Fame balloting Hall of Fame balloting