Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2007 proceeded according to revised rules enacted in 2001. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) held an election to select from among recent players, resulting in the induction of Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.
The Veterans Committee held an election with two ballots: the biennial election for players retired over 20 years, and the quadrennial election for non-players (managers, umpires and executives), the first since 2003. The Committee did not elect anyone.
Induction ceremonies in Cooperstown were held July 29 with Commissioner Bud Selig presiding.
BBWAA election The BBWAA was again authorized to elect players active in 1987 or later, but not after 2001; the ballot announced on November 27, 2006, included candidates from the 2006 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 2001. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.
Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate who received votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. Results of the 2007 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 9. The ballot consisted of 32 players; a record 545 ballots were cast, with 409 votes required for election. A total of 3584 individual votes were cast, an average of 6.58 per ballot. Those candidates who received less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). There were 15 candidates returning from the 2006 ballot. The two candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. The candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Steve Garvey was on the ballot for the 15th and final time.
PlayerVotesPercentChangeYearCal Ripken Jr.53798.5-1stTony Gwynn53297.6-1stGoose Gossage38871.26.6%8thJim Rice34663.51.3%13thAndre Dawson30956.74.3%6thBert Blyleven26047.75.6%10thLee Smith21739.85.2%5thJack Morris20237.14.1%8thMark McGwire12823.5-1stTommy John12522.96.7%13thSteve Garvey11521.14.9%15thDave Concepción7413.61.1%14thAlan Trammell7313.44.3%6thDave Parker6211.43.2%11thDon Mattingly549.92.4%7thDale Murphy509.21.6%9thHarold Baines295.3-1stOrel Hershiser*244.46.8%2ndAlbert Belle*193.54.2%2ndPaul O'Neill*122.2-1stBret Saberhagen*71.3-1stJosé Canseco*61.1-1stTony Fernández*40.7-1stDante Bichette*30.6-1stEric Davis*30.6-1stBobby Bonilla*20.4-1stKen Caminiti*20.4-1stJay Buhner*10.2-1stScott Brosius*00.0-1stWally Joyner*00.0-1stDevon White*00.0-1stBobby Witt*00.0-1st
The newly eligible candidates included 26 All-Stars, eight of whom were selected at least five times, and ten of whom were not even included on the ballot. For only the second time (equalling 1982), three players with 400 home runs were among the new candidates; the five newly eligible players with 300 home runs were a new high (exceeding the 1980 total), and the twelve new candidates with 200 home runs shattered the previous high mark of eight, set in 1992. With the exception of the first balloting in 1936, it was the second time that two players with 3000 hits debuted on the ballot (Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.), and also the second time that two players with 1500 RBI made their initial appearances (Ripken and Harold Baines). Again excepting 1936, the numbers of newly eligible candidates with 2000 hits (7), 2500 hits (3), 1000 RBI (9), 1200 RBI (5), 3000 total bases (11), 3500 total bases (5) or 4000 total bases (3) all tied or broke previous records. The field included three MVP Award Winners (Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, and Cal Ripken Jr., who won the award twice), one Cy Young Award winner (Bret Saberhagen, twice awarded), and four Rookie of the Year Award winners (Cal Ripken Jr., Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and Gregg Olson, who was not even on the ballot). As expected, Gwynn and Ripken were elected on the first ballot; the other first-time candidates were generally seeking simply enough votes to remain on the ballot for the 2008 election, when a much less crowded field was expected. However, of the first-timers who were not elected, only two—McGwire and Baines—received enough votes to make the 2008 ballot, and had Baines received two fewer votes, he also would have become ineligible for BBWAA consideration.
Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Derek Bell, Willie Blair, Brian Bohanon, Ricky Bones, Jeff Brantley, Norm Charlton, Chad Curtis, Rob Ducey, Mark Gardner, Bernard Gilkey, Craig Grebeck, Darryl Hamilton, Pete Harnisch, Charlie Hayes, Doug Henry, Gil Heredia, Glenallen Hill, Ken Hill, John Jaha, Stan Javier, Randy Knorr, Mark Leiter, Mark Lewis, Dave Magadan, Dave Martinez, Ramón Martínez, Chuck McElroy, Alan Mills, Omar Olivares, Joe Oliver, Gregg Olson, Scott Radinsky, Pat Rapp, Pete Schourek, Scott Servais, Jeff Shaw, Bill Spiers, Ed Sprague, Kevin Tapani, Eddie Taubensee, Turner Ward, John Wehner, and Rick Wilkins.
Steroid debate Performance-enhancing substances, which had made headlines in the sport for the past several years, became a factor in voting for the first time. Two MVP winners who later admitted to steroid use – José Canseco and Ken Caminiti – were both among the first-time candidates. More prominently, McGwire was appearing on the ballot for the first time; considered a highly likely first-ballot selection following his record-setting home run feats in the late 1990s, his candidacy was heavily debated more recently as observers of the sport considered both his admitted use of legal dietary supplements (particularly androstenedione, which he stopped using in 1998 and was banned in 2004), as well as suspicions in some quarters that he had also used steroids (which he ultimately admitted in 2010 to having used for much of his career, including 1998). The voters took these matters into consideration, individually determining how recent offensive totals should be regarded by the Hall, as the first players from the sport's offensive explosion in the late 1990s now began to appear on the ballot in significant numbers.
In November 2006, the Associated Press received responses from 125 baseball writers they had asked about their voting plans; about 3/4 of those who had decided were against electing McGwire, at least for the time being.
New York Daily News sportswriter Bill Madden, who has also been part of the Veterans Committee selection process since 2003, said he will not vote for any player he even suspects of using steroids, citing the ballot guidelines which include a player's integrity as being among the five criteria voters should consider: "I'm not voting for any of those guys – Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, any of them. I draw the line at eyeball evidence and what I personally believe. I had three Hall of Famers come up to me at Cooperstown ... and they all said the same thing, 'We're looking to you guys to uphold the integrity of this place.'" He added, "If the Hall of Fame doesn't want me or any other writers to take a stand, then take that clause out of the ballot. I plan to invoke that clause."
USA Today writer Bob Nightengale stated that even proof of steroid use would not cause him to withhold his vote, noting, "So many other guys were taking them, including pitchers. So it's almost like a level playing field ... everybody was allowed to cheat, you still choose the best of that particular era." He nonetheless indicated that he would likely withhold his vote from McGwire for at least a year or two, saying, "The biggest trouble I have with McGwire, he hit so many home runs in such a short period of time. It's not like he was a consistent Hall of Famer his whole career."
In contrast, Tony La Russa – McGwire's manager for all but one and a half years of his 16-season career – has said, "Without question, I believe he belongs there on the first ballot. You're talking about a long and distinguished career." (McGwire was indeed an All-Star in all but two seasons from 1987 through 2000, and had already finished seventh or higher in the MVP voting three times before his 1998 record season.) La Russa also reiterated his belief that McGwire had never used steroids, saying, "I know people are struggling with how to put it in perspective. I don't know where it goes. I don't know how people weigh. I don't know how the public feels. To me, the issue is the player that I saw for years and years. I believe in him. And that's where I leave it."
MLB.com sportswriter Barry Bloom, noting that the supplements McGwire has admitted using were permitted in baseball at the time, stated that he would vote for McGwire and any other qualified candidate against whom there is no empirical evidence of steroid use, saying, "They knew he was doing [androstenedione] and they didn't do anything at the time. Regardless of what happened since, I can't assume McGwire did anything."
St. Louis sportswriter Rob Rains said he will not vote for McGwire until he apologizes, saying, "I want to hear that he's sorry for what he did. I still might not vote for him. But it would help."."
Writer and statistician John Thorn has cast a skeptical eye on writers who claim to be upholding a standard of integrity, observing that cheating for an advantage has always been a part of baseball, even among Hall of Famers such as Gaylord Perry and 19th-century star King Kelly: "This whole thing about McGwire simply permits sportswriters to imagine themselves to be Woodward and Bernstein, people who see themselves as guardians of a sacred portal, the last best hope for truth and justice - and it's all hogwash and baloney."
ESPN sportswriter Jayson Stark, who stated that he would vote for McGwire, noting the earlier election of Perry, said, "I think I'm stuck with evaluating what the sport allowed to happen on the field. Either the '90s happened or they didn't. Since they happened, and the hundreds of players using whatever they used leveled the playing field to some extent, I feel more comfortable voting for players like McGwire than I do trying to pick and choose who did what, and when, and why."
Chicago Tribune writer Ron Rapoport stated, "I'll vote for him. You can't rewrite the history of the game after the fact."
Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell, noted for his extensive writings on baseball, suggested that waiting a few years is the ideal solution, saying, "Should we 'pardon' McGwire for accusations of steroid use that he has never actually admitted and for which no evidence exists?" (In keeping with Post rules regarding writers voting on awards, Boswell previously gave up his BBWAA voting rights.) Observing that candidates initially have 15 years in which to be elected, Boswell added, "McGwire's name will still be on the Hall of Fame ballot. But our perspective on him and the period in which he played may - for reasons we may not yet know - be far clearer than it is now."