2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2008 proceeded according to revised rules enacted in 2001 and further revamped in 2007. The Baseball Writers' Association of America held an election to select from among recent players, resulting in the induction of Goose Gossage. A restructured format for Veterans Committee voting resulted in the first successful election by that body since 2001, with five candidates earning induction, after the three elections in the intervening years had failed to produce any inductees.
Initially, the Veterans Committee was not scheduled to hold an election; the 2001 rules changes provided that elections for players retired over 20 years would be held every other year, with elections of non-players held every fourth year. The Committee voted in 2007 in both areas, and an election for players was next held in 2009. Under the 2001 rules, the next election for non-players would have been conducted in 2011; however, the 2007 changes meant that elections of non-players would now be conducted for inductions in even-numbered years beginning in 2008, with managers and umpires elected from one ballot and executives from a separate ballot.
Induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York, were held on July 27, with Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig presiding. This was to be the final year that the annual Hall of Fame Game, an exhibition contest played in Cooperstown, would be held; however, the game was rained out.
BBWAA election
The BBWAA was again authorized to elect players active in 1988 or later, but not after 2002; the ballot, announced on November 26, 2007, included candidates from the 2007 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 2002. 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 2008 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 8. The ballot consisted of 25 players, and over 575 ballots were distributed; they had to be returned by December 31, and votes were tabulated by BBWAA official Jack O'Connell along with Michael DiLecce, a partner in the Ernst & Young accounting firm. 543 ballots were cast, two short of the record total of 2007, with 408 votes required for election. A total of 2,907 individual votes were cast, an average of 5.35 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. Fourteen candidates returned from the 2007 ballot. The candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is 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.
Dave Concepción was on the ballot for the 15th and final time.
| Player | Votes | Percent | Change | Year |
| Rich "Goose" Gossage | 466 | 85.8 | 14.6% | 9th |
| Jim Rice | 392 | 72.2 | 8.7% | 14th |
| Andre Dawson | 358 | 65.9 | 9.2% | 7th |
| Bert Blyleven | 336 | 61.9 | 14.2% | 11th |
| Lee Smith | 235 | 43.3 | 3.5% | 6th |
| Jack Morris | 233 | 42.9 | 5.8% | 9th |
| Tommy John | 158 | 29.1 | 6.2% | 14th |
| †Tim Raines | 132 | 24.3 | – | 1st |
| Mark McGwire | 128 | 23.6 | 0.1% | 2nd |
| Alan Trammell | 99 | 18.2 | 4.8% | 7th |
| Dave Concepción | 88 | 16.2 | 2.6% | 15th |
| Don Mattingly | 86 | 15.8 | 5.9% | 8th |
| Dave Parker | 82 | 15.1 | 3.7% | 12th |
| Dale Murphy | 75 | 13.8 | 4.6% | 10th |
| Harold Baines | 28 | 5.2 | 0.1% | 2nd |
| †Rod Beck* | 2 | 0.4 | – | 1st |
| †Travis Fryman* | 2 | 0.4 | – | 1st |
| †Robb Nen* | 2 | 0.4 | – | 1st |
| †Shawon Dunston* | 1 | 0.2 | – | 1st |
| †Chuck Finley* | 1 | 0.2 | – | 1st |
| †David Justice* | 1 | 0.2 | – | 1st |
| †Chuck Knoblauch* | 1 | 0.2 | – | 1st |
| †Todd Stottlemyre* | 1 | 0.2 | – | 1st |
| †Brady Anderson* | 0 | 0.0 | – | 1st |
| José Rijo* | 0 | 0.0 | – | 1st |
The newly-eligible candidates included 17 All-Stars, eight of whom were not included on the ballot, with only one who was selected more than five times. In contrast to the remarkably deep field of candidates in 2007, when those newly eligible had been named to the All-Star team a combined total of 103 times, the 2008 field of new candidates were selected a total of only 43 times. José Rijo, who appeared on the 2001 ballot before returning to the major leagues in 2001–2002, again became eligible. Darryl Kile, who died during the season, was included on the 2003 ballot under a standard provision for players who die before the five-year waiting period has elapsed; this same provision allowed Rod Beck to appear on the 2008 ballot.
The ballot included two Rookie of the Year Award winners: David Justice and Chuck Knoblauch.
Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Luis Alicea, Alex Arias, Andy Benes, Mike Benjamin, Dennis Cook, Delino DeShields, Darrin Fletcher, Rich Garcés, Chris Haney, Dave Hollins, Bobby J. Jones, Tom Lampkin, Darren Lewis, Mike Magnante, Dave Mlicki, Mike Morgan, Hipólito Pichardo, Armando Reynoso, Henry Rodríguez, Lee Stevens, Greg Swindell, Mike Trombley, John Valentin, Randy Velarde, Ed Vosberg, and Mark Wohlers.
Of the newly-eligible candidates, the only one who amassed enough votes to remain on the BBWAA ballot was Raines. This contrasts with the 2007 voting, when Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn were inducted at the first opportunity, and two other newcomers, Mark McGwire and Harold Baines, received enough votes to remain on the ballot. McGwire, who received 128 votes in 2007, got the same number of votes in 2008. Baines, whose 29 votes in 2007 kept him on the ballot by two votes, lost one vote in 2008, remaining on the ballot with exactly the minimum requirement.
Also notable was Jim Rice falling short of election, this time by 16 votes. He was on the ballot for the 15th and final time in, finally earning induction that year alongside newcomer Rickey Henderson.
Veterans Committee elections
The Veterans Committee election process, radically changed in 2001, was revamped yet again in July 2007. The changes that most directly affected this election involved elections of non-players. Under the 2001 rules, elections of non-players would be held every fourth year on a "composite ballot". No candidate was elected from the composite ballot in 2003 or 2007.With the 2007 rules changes, the composite ballot was split into two separate ballots—one for managers and umpires and the other for executives. Also, the voting membership of the Committee, which previously included all living members of the Hall, was now reduced to include just a handful of those members, plus additional executives and sportswriters. Voting for both the managers/umpires and executives ballots will now take place prior to inductions in even-numbered years, starting with 2008. To be eligible, managers and umpires need to be retired for at least five years, or for at least six months if they are age 65 or older, while executives need to be either retired or at least age 65.
A Historical Overview Committee of eleven sportswriters appointed by the BBWAA's Board of Directors met to develop a ballot of 10 managers and umpires; the committee members were: Dave Van Dyck, Bob Elliott, Rick Hummel, Steve Hirdt, Moss Klein, Bill Madden, Ken Nigro, Jack O'Connell, Nick Peters, Tracy Ringolsby and Mark Whicker. The managers/umpires list was submitted to a 16-member panel composed of 10 Hall of Famers, 3 executives and 3 veteran media members for a final vote. A separate ballot of 10 executives was developed by a 12-member panel including 7 executives, 2 players and 3 writers, which was the same committee which did the final voting in that area. On November 8, 2007, the final ballots were released. Each panel member could vote for up to four individuals on each ballot, and each candidate who received 75% of the vote from either panel would be elected; therefore, a maximum of five inductions was possible from each ballot. Voting was conducted at baseball's winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee on December 2, 2007, with the results announced on December 3; it was the first time since 2001 that the Committee met to discuss candidates, as the previous three elections had been conducted by mail.
Managers/umpires ballot
The ballot for managers and umpires included seven managers and three umpires, with 12 votes required for election. Candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been elected in later elections are indicated in italics.Executives ballotOn the executives ballot, 9 votes were required for election; those candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics:
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