1963 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting explained

New Inductees:4
Veterans:4
Inductees:94
Date:August 5, 1963
Before:1962
After:1964

Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1963 followed a system established for odd-number years after the 1956 election. Namely, the baseball writers were voting on recent players only in even-number years.

The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected four people: 19th-century 300-game winner John Clarkson, turn-of-the-century outfielder Elmer Flick, 266-game winner Eppa Rixey, and outfielder Sam Rice, who had 2987 career hits. Flick, Rixey, and Rice were all still living at the time the selections were announced, however Rixey died several months before the induction ceremony.[1] A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on August 5, 1963, with Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick presiding.[2]

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

Following the December 1962 death of J. G. Taylor Spink, publisher of The Sporting News, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) inaugurated an award to honor one baseball writer annually.[3] Conferred as part of the induction ceremonies, Spink himself was the first person honored with the award, posthumously.[4] [5] Known as the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for over 50 years, it was renamed as the BBWAA Career Excellence Award in February 2021.[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Eppa Rixey . Jan . Finkel . . 2004 . October 12, 2019.
  2. News: Hall of Fame Players Inducted in Cooperstown . . . . C-1 . August 6, 1963 . October 12, 2019 . newspapers.com.
  3. Web site: J.G. Taylor Spink . . October 12, 2019.
  4. News: 4 Veterans Enshrined . The Oneonta Star . . 17 . August 6, 1963 . February 27, 2021 . newspapers.com.
  5. Web site: 1962 BBWAA Career Excellence Award Winner J.G. Taylor Spink . baseballhall.org . February 27, 2021.
  6. Web site: BBWAA removes J.G. Taylor Spink's name from Hall of Fame writing award over racist language . February 5, 2021 . February 27, 2021 . ESPN.com.