Expert: Tom Schott - 1/21/2011

Question
Who (and what) determines what baseball players are kept off the ballot for Hall voting? Just for the fun of it, I wanted to see how many votes Mookie Wilson received, but I learned he was kept off the ballot.

Do you know approximately how many ways a pitcher can balk? I frankly have no idea. I know if the pitcher drops the ball, or he throws it to a baseman who is away from the bag, those are balks, but I don't know many more than that.

Answer
John,

Once a player has been out of the game for 5 years, he is on the ballot and member of the BB Writers association can vote for him. But to remain on the ballot, a player has to get 6 percent of the vote. If he does not, he drops off the ballot forever. So the vast, vast majority of players drop off the ballot in their first year of eligibility leaving only the very best players still in play for the HOF. Undoubtedly, this is what happened to Mookie Wilson.

On balks, here are explanations gathered from several sources. This is admittedly a difficult concept to grasp.

Here is the language of the rule: "The pitcher may be called for a balk when he makes any type of move that is a departure from his natural motion to home plate. This could be something as obscure as lifting the ball from his glove without completing his delivery."

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-balk-in-baseball.htm

http://westsidecubs.net/the_baseball_balk_rule.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balk