Writer's touch Since the first election for baseball's Hall of Fame in 1936, only 26 players have been selected for induction in their first year of eligibility by the Baseball Writers Association of America. That trend almost certainly must end if Robin Yount is to be elected when voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America is announced Wednesday. Yount, who played all 20 of his major-league seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, is part of a monster class of players eligible for induction into Cooperstown. That group includes two players considered sure bets for election, Nolan Ryan and George Brett, as well as Carlton Fisk, Dale Murphy and Yount. The deadline for submitting 1999 ballots is Thursday.
Players are eligible to be elected five years after retiring.
A random sampling of writers who have ballots indicated they considered Ryan, Brett, Yount and Fisk solid candidates for election to the Hall of Fame. How many will get in on the first ballot is another matter, however. The last time as many as two first-timers were elected was in 1990, when Jim Palmer and Joe Morgan received enough votes. For whatever reasons, some writers have been reluctant to vote for players in their first year of eligibility. They apparently view the Hall of Fame as some sort of baseball fraternity in which new members must pledge for a few years before being admitted.