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 a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

for 1977 followed the system in place since 1971. The

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines, and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908 and is known fo ...

(BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected

Ernie Banks Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...

. The

Veterans Committee The Veterans Committee is the popular name of various committees of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum that elect participants other than recently retired players. Originally, it referenced the National Baseball Hall of Fame Committee ...

met in closed sessions to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected three people:

Al López Alfonso Ramón López (August 20, 1908 – October 30, 2005) was a Spanish Americans, Spanish-American professional baseball catcher and Manager (baseball), manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Ro ...

, Amos Rusie, and Joe Sewell. The Negro League Committee also met in person and selected two players, Martín Dihigo and John Henry Lloyd. The Negro League Committee also decided to disband; it had elected nine players in seven years. A formal induction ceremony was held in

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and the 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 ...

, on August 8, 1977, with

Commissioner of Baseball The commissioner of baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as " organized baseball". Under the direction of the commiss ...

Bowie Kuhn presiding.

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1957 or later, but not after 1971; the ballot included candidates from the 1976 ballot who were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 1971. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote. 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 34 players; a total of 383 ballots were cast, with 288 votes required for election. A total of 2,929 individual votes were cast, an average of 7.65 per ballot. Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). The one candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in ''bold italics''; candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in ''italics''.

George Kell George Clyde Kell (August 23, 1922 – March 24, 2009) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1943 to 1957, most prominently as a member of the D ...

and

Walker Cooper William Walker Cooper (January 8, 1915 – April 11, 1991) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1940 to 1957, most notably as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals with who ...

were on the ballot for the final time.

Harvey Kuenn Harvey Edward Kuenn Jr. (; December 4, 1930 – February 28, 1988) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a shortstop and outfielder, he played with the Detroit Tigers (1952–1959), ...

, whose last game had been in 1966, was eligible for the first time due to his appearance on the roster of the Milwaukee Brewers for two weeks in 1970. Harvey Kuenn, whose last game played was in 1966, was actually activated by the Brewers for the last two weeks of 1971, in order for him to qualify for pension purposes. He did not play in an actual game, however. The newly-eligible players included 13 All-Stars, 8 of whom were not included on the ballot, representing a total of 50 All-Star selections. Among the new candidates were 11-time All-Star Ernie Banks, 8-time All-Star Harvey Kuenn, and 7-time All-Stars Jim Bunning and Camilo Pascual. The field included two MVPs (Banks, who won twice, and Zoilo Versalles), one Cy Young Award winner (Dean Chance) and one Rookie of the Year (Kuenn). Players eligible for the first time who were ''not'' included on the ballot were: Bob Aspromonte,

Clete Boyer Cletis Leroy "Clete" Boyer (February 9, 1937 – June 4, 2007) was an American professional baseball third baseman — who occasionally played shortstop and second base — in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Athletics (1955–57) ...

, George Brunet, Dean Chance, Ty Cline, Clay Dalrymple, Dick Ellsworth,

Jake Gibbs Jerry Dean "Jake" Gibbs (born November 7, 1938) is an American former Major League Baseball player who played for the New York Yankees as a platoon catcher from 1962 to 1971. Although Gibbs was the regular starting catcher for New York in 1967 a ...

, Tony González, Mudcat Grant, Dick Hall, Jim Hannan, Mike Hershberger, Chuck Hinton,

Mack Jones Mack Fletcher Jones (November 6, 1938 – June 8, 2004), nicknamed "Mack The Knife", was an American Major League Baseball left fielder who played for the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1961–1967), Cincinnati Reds (1968), and Montreal Expos (19 ...

, Cal Koonce, Jim Maloney,

Lee Maye Arthur Lee Maye (December 11, 1934 – July 17, 2002) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played eleven seasons in the majors as an outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves (1959–1965), Houston Astros (1965–1966), Cleveland Indians ...

, Mike McCormick, Don Pavletich,

Claude Raymond Jean Claude Marc Raymond (born May 7, 1937), nicknamed "Frenchy", is a Canadian former professional baseball relief pitcher, coach, and broadcaster. During his 12-year career in Major League Baseball, he played for the Chicago White Sox (1959), ...

, Howie Reed, Ducky Schofield, Al Spangler, George Thomas,

Zoilo Versalles Zoilo Casanova Versalles Rodriguez (; December 18, 1939 – June 9, 1995), nicknamed "Zorro", was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball, most notably for the Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators. ...

and Al Weis.

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

Harold Kaese (1909–1975) and Red Smith (1905–1982) received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring baseball writers. The awards were voted at the December 1976 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1977 ceremonies.

References

External links

1977 Election
at www.baseballhalloffame.org {{Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Hall of Fame balloting Hall of Fame balloting