1987 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

BBWAA election

The BBWAA was authorized to elect players who were active in 1967 or later but not after 1981. The ballot included candidates from the 1986 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, as well as selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 1981. All BBWAA members with at least 10 years of membership 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 into the Hall. The ballot included 28 players. A total of 413 ballots were cast, with 310 votes required for election. A total of 2,730 individual votes were cast, averaging 6.61 per ballot—a record low at that point and breaking the previous record of 6.81 set in 1962. Those candidates receiving 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 (†). The two candidates 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. The 4 candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Lew Burdette was on the ballot for the 15th and final time.

The newly eligible players included 8 All-Stars, three of whom were not included on the ballot, representing a total of 17 All-Star selections. 4-time All Star Sal Bando had the most selections of any newly eligible candidate. The field included two Cy Young Award winners (Mike Marshall and Steve Stone, who retired one season after winning his award).

Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Rick Auerbach, Ken Brett, Reggie Cleveland, Dick Drago, Duffy Dyer, John Ellis, Tom Hutton, Pat Kelly, Mike Lum, Billy North, Johnny Oates, Freddie Patek, Dave Roberts, Rennie Stennett, Mike Tyson and John Vukovich.

J. G. Taylor Spink Award

Jack Lang (1921–2007) received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer. The award was voted at the December 1986 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1987 ceremonies.

References

References

1. Holtzman, Jerome. (July 27, 1987). "Fanfare for a quiet man". [[Chicago Tribune]].
2. Holtzman, Jerome. (July 27, 1987). "Williams". [[Chicago Tribune]].
3. "1986 BBWAA Career Excellence Award Winner Jack Lang".