Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1968 followed rules revised in June 1967, which returned the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) to annual elections without any provision for a runoff. In the event, the BBWAA voted once by mail to select from recent major league players, and elected Joe Medwick. The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected two players, Kiki Cuyler and Goose Goslin. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on July 22, 1968, with Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert presiding.^[1]

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1948 or later, but not after 1962; the ballot included candidates from the 1967 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 1962. 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 48 players; a total of 283 ballots were cast, with 213 votes required for election. A total of 2,109 individual votes were cast, an average of 7.45 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.

Joe Medwick, Arky Vaughan, Terry Moore, Frankie Crosetti and Frank McCormick were on the ballot for the final time.

Player Votes Percent Change Joe Medwick 240 84.8 0 12.2% Roy Campanella 205 72.4 0 2.5% Lou Boudreau 146 51.6 0 2.6% Enos Slaughter 129 45.6 0 3.5% Ralph Kiner 118 41.7 0 0.8% Johnny Mize 103 36.4 0 5.9% Allie Reynolds 95 33.6 0 7.2% Marty Marion 89 31.4 0 0.6% Arky Vaughan 82 29.0 0 13.2% Pee Wee Reese 81 28.6 0 1.9% Johnny Vander Meer 79 27.9 0 1.9% Joe Gordon 77 27.2 0 4.6% Phil Rizzuto 74 26.1 0 1.8% Hal Newhouser 67 23.7 0 2.5% Bucky Walters 67 23.7 0 1.4% Bobby Doerr 48 17.0 0 5.0% George Kell 47 16.6 0 2.9% Bob Lemon 47 16.6 0 4.6% Alvin Dark 36 12.7 0 0.3% Terry Moore 33 11.7 0 10.7% Phil Cavarretta 23 8.1 0 3.0% Tommy Henrich 22 7.8 - Bobo Newsom 22 7.8 0 1.3% Mickey Vernon 22 7.8 0 3.0% Frankie Crosetti 15 5.3 Ted Kluszewski 14 4.9 0 1.8% Bobby Thomson 13 4.6 0 1.2% Charlie Keller 11 3.9 - Sal Maglie 11 3.9 - Carl Erskine 9 3.2 - Don Newcombe 9 3.2 0 3.0% †Walker Cooper 8 2.8 - Dom DiMaggio 8 2.8 - Johnny Sain 7 2.5 - †Richie Ashburn 6 2.1 - Schoolboy Rowe 6 2.1 - Dixie Walker 6 2.1 - †Ewell Blackwell 5 1.8 - Dutch Leonard 5 1.8 - Gil McDougald 4 1.4 Wally Moses 4 1.4 - Harry Brecheen 3 1.1 - Jackie Jensen 3 1.1 0 0.1% Frank McCormick 3 1.1 - †Augie Galan 2 0.7 - †Ed Lopat 2 0.7 - Preacher Roe 2 0.7 - Vic Raschi 1 0.4 -

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.      Players not yet elected who returned on the 1969 ballot.      Eliminated from future BBWAA voting. These individuals remain eligible for future Veterans Committee consideration.

Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Reno Bertoia, Steve Bilko, Jim Busby, Andy Carey, Bob Cerv, Harry Chiti, Billy Consolo, Dick Gernert, Joe Ginsberg, Billy Goodman, Granny Hamner, Clem Labine, Turk Lown, Hal Naragon, Bob Nieman, Danny O'Connell, Dave Philley, Sammy White, Gene Woodling, and Eddie Yost

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

Damon Runyon (1880–1946) received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer.^[2] The award was voted at the December 1967 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1968 ceremonies.

References

External links

• 1968 Election at www.baseballhalloffame.org