IBWAA elects five to the Hall of Fame in 2015 vote

The IBWAA released the results from their 2015 Hall of Fame voting today, as five new members were added. The IBWAA ballot was identical to the BBWAA ballot with the following exceptions:

• Mike Piazza‘s name did not appear on the ballot since he was elected in 2013.
• Craig Biggio‘s name did not appear on the ballot since he was elected in 2014
• Barry Larkin‘s name did not appear on the ballot because he has not reached the 75% threshold in an IBWAA election.

The five new members include Randy Johnson (98.24%), Pedro Martinez (95.15%), John Smoltz (82.82%), Jeff Bagwell (81.94%) and Tim Raines (79.30%). The same 75% threshold is required for election in the IBWAA.

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Those just outside of the required vote were Curt Schilling (65.64%), Roger Clemens (64.76%) and Barry Bonds (63.34%). Clemens and Bonds both saw an increase in their number of votes. In an interview with Mike Oz on Yahoo, Cole explained “players connected to PEDs do considerably better in our elections. There is no patience for the idea that if a player is suspected of using, and only suspected, that it’s a disqualifier.” Full results can be found here.

Per a group decision made in 2014, members were allowed to vote for 15 players instead of the previous 10 beginning with this year’s election. There are 338 members of the IBWAA, of which 227 voted in this election. 136 members voted for more than 10, while 52 members voted for the max allowed 15.

For those not familiar, the IBWAA was formed by Los Angeles based writer Howard Cole to give the many online bloggers and writers a voice. The process and politics to become a member of the BBWAA is a difficult one as an internet writer, and when Cole formed the IBWAA, the BBWAA was still tied to print publications. While many of us may not have the notoriety of some print sportswriters, our love and knowledge of the game is just as deep.

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