JeffyKeane said:
Ty Cobb was left off four ballots, Nolan Ryan wasn't on six, Hank Aaron on nine, Babe Ruth on 11 and Willie Mays on 23. Joe DiMaggio needed to appear on the ballot three times to get in, receiving 44 percent and 69 percent in his first two tries.
i agree with the main point of this thread, but wanted to comment on this excerpt, which i presume is taken from the linked article (didn't read it).Cobb & Ruth's votes were from the
first ballot in 1936, when each got over 95% of the vote. Consider that every player since the beginning of MLB was a possible candidate, and consider that
legends like Lou Gehrig, Cy Young, and Rogers Hornsby didn't even get elected that year (the 5 inductees were Cobb, Ruth, Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner, and Christy Mathewson).
DiMaggio was a unique case, too. Back then, upon retirement, a player was immediately eligible. Rumors circulated prior to the 54 balloting, that if DiMaggio was elected, the Pirates would sign him to a lucrative contract as a gate attraction. The suppressed his vote totals that year and the next. I guess by 56, the voters were convinced the Joe was not coming back. In the meantime, the HOF instituted the 5-year waiting rule (albeit with an exception that applied only to DiMaggio).
No peculiarities about Aaron or Mays, but by then, this dumb notion of "no one shall be unanimous" had taken root.