Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1964

Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1964 followed the system introduced for even-number years in 1962. The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players with provision for a second, "runoff" election in case of no winner. The runoff was necessary this year, with Luke Appling the winner. Meanwhile, the Veterans Committee was meeting annually to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected six people: Red Faber, Burleigh Grimes, Miller Huggins, Tim Keefe, Heinie Manush, and John Montgomery Ward.

Further, the eligibility of retired players was reduced from having retired thirty years prior to election to twenty.

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1944 or later, but not after 1958. 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. A total of 58 players received votes; 201 ballots were cast, with 151 votes required for election. A total of 1,632 individual votes were cast, an average of 8.12 per ballot.

No one reached the threshold so there was a runoff election featuring the 30 leading candidates. There would be one winner regardless of numerical support on the second ballot; in fact, winner Luke Appling tallied 189 of 201 votes or 94%. A total of 939 individual votes were cast in the run-off, an average of 4.67 per ballot.

Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a †. Candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. (Al López, line seven, is in the Hall of Fame, too, as a manager.)

Chuck Klein, Lloyd Waner, Pepper Martin, Leo Durocher, and Lon Warneke were on the ballot for the final time.

Key to colors
     Elected to the Hall. These individuals are also indicated in bold italics.
     Players who were elected in future elections. These individuals are also indicated in plain italics.
Player Votes Percent Change Runoff
Luke Appling 142 70.6 Increase 40.6% 189
Red Ruffing 141 70.1 Increase 25.1% 184
†Roy Campanella 115 57.2 - 138
Joe Medwick 108 53.7 Increase 32.5% 130
†Pee Wee Reese 73 36.3 - 47
Lou Boudreau 68 33.8 Increase 26.3% 43
Al López 57 28.4 Increase 21.5% 34
Chuck Klein 56 27.9 Increase 16.7% 18
Johnny Mize 54 26.9 Increase 18.1% 12
Mel Harder 51 25.4 Increase 21.0% 14
Johnny Vander Meer 51 25.4 Increase 22.3% 20
Marty Marion 50 24.9 Increase 14.9% 17
Lloyd Waner 47 23.4 Increase 20.3% 12
Phil Rizzuto 45 22.4 Decrease 5.1% 11
Allie Reynolds 35 17.4 Increase 8.0% 6
Bucky Walters 35 17.4 Increase 14.3% 8
†George Kell 33 16.4 - 8
Ernie Lombardi 33 16.4 Increase 13.3% 9
Ralph Kiner 31 15.4 Increase 12.3% 3
Joe Gordon 30 14.9 Increase 12.4% 1
Billy Herman 26 12.9 Increase 10.4% 9
Hal Newhouser 26 12.9 Increase 10.4% 3
Bobby Doerr 24 11.9 Increase 5.7% 5
†Bob Lemon 24 11.9 - 3
Phil Cavarretta 22 10.9 Increase 9.7% 1
Pepper Martin 19 9.5 Increase 5.7% 5
Bobo Newsom 17 8.5 Increase 6.6% 1
Arky Vaughan 17 8.5 Increase 4.7% 6
Tommy Bridges 15 7.5 Increase 6.9% 1
Leo Durocher 15 7.5 Increase 6.9% 2
Terry Moore 14 7.0 Increase 6.4%
Tommy Henrich 13 6.5 Increase 4.6%
†Sal Maglie 13 6.5 -
Lon Warneke 13 6.5 Increase 5.3%
Doc Cramer 12 6.0 Increase 5.4%
Dom DiMaggio 12 6.0 Increase 4.8%
Charlie Keller 12 6.0 Increase 5.4%
Fred Hutchinson 10 5.0 Increase 4.4%
Hal Schumacher 10 5.0 Increase 4.4%
Rudy York 10 5.0 Increase 4.4%
Vic Raschi 8 4.0 Increase 3.4%
Spud Chandler 6 3.0 Increase 1.8%
Frank McCormick 6 3.0 Increase 2.4%
Dixie Walker 6 3.0 Increase 2.4%
Bob Elliott 4 2.0 Increase 1.4%
†Virgil Trucks 4 2.0 -
†Ellis Kinder 3 1.5 -
Johnny Sain 3 1.5 Increase 0.9%
George Case 2 1.0 Increase 0.4%
†Art Houtteman 2 1.0 -
†Wes Westrum 2 1.0 -
†Steve Gromek 1 0.5 -
†Bob Kuzava 1 0.5 -
†Eddie Miksis 1 0.5 -
†Ron Northey 1 0.5 -
Rip Sewell 1 0.5 Decrease 0.1%
†Roy Smalley 1 0.5 -
†Dizzy Trout 1 0.5 -

The run-off results show that voters in the second election concentrated their support on the four leaders. Primary results indicate significant gains among returning candidates, with eight players gaining twenty percentage points or more. Between 1962 and 1964, the Hall of Fame reduced eligibility for players to be voted on by the BBWAA from having been retired for at most 30 years to those who had been retired for at most 20 years. This removed numerous popular candidates, including Sam Rice, who had received the most votes among players not elected. Among the seventeen candidates to receive at least 10% of the vote in 1962, nine were no longer eligible due to the rule change. Combined with the two candidates who were elected, this meant that of the seventeen candidates to receive 10% or more in 1962, only six were appearing on this ballot.

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