Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, and “Cannonball” Dick Redding elected - Hall of Merit Class of 2019

Congrats to the class of 2019, Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, and “Cannonball” Dick Redding!

Halladay and Rivera each garnered 9 of 27 first place votes, with Redding carrying 6 others. There was strong consensus this year - no other player received more than four top 3 votes. Halladay had 25, Rivera 19, and Redding 15. Todd Helton (5th), Jeff Kent (9th) and Jim McCormick (41st) also received first place votes.

Halladay was the only player named on all 27 ballots. Rivera was named on 26 and Redding 22. Others named on at least half of the ballots include Luis Tiant (4th), who was named on 20, Helton on 19, Kenny Lofton (6th) on 18, Johan Santana (10th) on 16, Andruw Jones (7th) and Ben Taylor (8th) on 15.

Redding vaulted from 20th to 3rd on the strength of new MLEs. It was his 83rd year of eligibility a great testament to perpetual eligibility. The system works!

All of the top ten were mentioned above. Players also requiring comment next year (top 10 returning players) include Wally Schang, Sammy Sosa, and Lance Berkman.

Players in the top 30 moving up or down at least 5 places include:

Wally Schang from 19 to 11
Sammy Sosa from 6 to 12
Lance Berkman debuting at 13
Thurman Munson from 24 to 14
Phil Rizzuto from 23 to 15
Buddy Bell from 12 to 17
Jorge Posada from 14 to 19
Bobby Bonds from 13 to 20
Sal Bando from 16 to 21
Don Newcombe from 32 to 22
Andy Pettitte debuting at 24
Art Fletcher from 36 to 25
Tommy Bridges from 21 to 26
Urban Shocker from 18 to tied for 30th
Hilton Smith from 25 to 52T
Hugh Duffy from 29 to 58T

RK   LY  Player             PTS  Bal   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  n/e  Roy Halladay       612   27   9 10  6  2                                 
 2  n/e  Mariano Rivera     549   26   9  7  3  3  1  1  1           1            
 3   20  Dick Redding       442   22   6  4  5  1  1     1  2  1  1               
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4    5  Luis Tiant         263   20      1  1  1  2  3  3     2     1  3  1  1  1
 5  n/e  Todd Helton        244   19   1        1  3  1  3  1     3  1  2  3      
 6    7  Kenny Lofton       217   18         1  1  1  3  1  2     2  2     2  1  2
 7    8  Andruw Jones       201   15      2  1  2  1  1           2     2  1  2  1
 8   10  Ben Taylor         196   15            4  2        2  1  1  3  1  1      
 9    9  Jeff Kent          188   12   1     3     1  1  2     1  1     1     1   
10   11  Johan Santana      179   16         1     1  2  1     2  1  1  3     1  3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11   19  Wally Schang       153   12         1     1  3     2     1  1  1  1     1
12    6  Sammy Sosa         148   13            1     2  2  1     1  1  1  3     1
13  n/e  Lance Berkman      135    9         2  1  1        2  1  1     1         
14   24  Thurman Munson     105    9         1           2  2     1              3
15   23  Phil Rizzuto       102    9            1  1  1  1  1                 3  1
16   17  Bob Johnson         99   11                        1     2  2  1  2  1  2
17   12  Buddy Bell          97    8            1  2  1     1              1     2
18   15  Vic Willis          94    9                           4  2     1  1  1   
19   14  Jorge Posada        91    7      1        1           2  1  1        1   
20   13  Bobby Bonds         78    6            1     2        1     1  1         
21   16  Sal Bando           75    6            2        1  1              1     1
22   32  Don Newcombe        66    6               1     1        1  1     1  1   
23   22  Tommy John          66    5            2     1              1        1   
24  n/e  Andy Pettitte       59    5               1  1              2     1      
25   36  Art Fletcher        55    4         1           1           1  1         
26   21  Tommy Bridges       54    5            1  1                    1        2
27   26  Gavy Cravath        53    5                     1  1  1              2   
28   31  Tommy Leach         50    4         1              1              1  1   
29   28  Bucky Walters       46    5                  1              1  1        2
30T  27  Bert Campaneris     43    4                     1  1           1     1   
30T  18  Urban Shocker       43    4                  1           1     1  1      
32   30  Joe Tinker          36    3               1        1                 1   
33   40  Kevin Appier        35    3               1                 1  1         
34   44T Bobby Veach         34    3                           2     1            
35   35  Bus Clarkson        31    2            1        1                        
36   53T Ed Cicotte          30    2            1           1                     
37   53T Dolf Luque          29    2               1        1                     
38   41  Vern Stephens       26    3                              1        1  1   
39   37  Mickey Welch        24    3                                    1  1  1   
40   44T Fred McGriff        24    2                     1           1            
41   33T Jim McCormick       24    1   1                                          
42T  64T Tommy Bond          23    1      1                                       
42T  47T Addie Joss          23    1      1                                       
44   42  Luke Easter         22    2               1                             1
45   77T Johnny Evers        20    2                           1           1      
46T  61T Dwight Gooden       19    2                        1                    1
46T n/e  Roy Oswalt          19    2                           1              1   
48   50  Bob Elliott         18    2                           1                 1
49   33T Babe Adams          16    1               1                              
50T  58T Ernie Lombardi      15    1                  1                           
50T  71T Frank Tanana        15    1                  1                           
52T  61T Nomar Carciaparra   14    1                     1                        
52T  --  Tommy Henrich       14    1                     1                        
52T  25  Hilton Smith        14    1                     1                        
55   60  John Olerud         13    2                                          1  1
56T  56T Mickey Lolich       13    1                        1                     
56T  58T Lee Smith           13    1                        1                     
58T  39  Frank Chance        12    1                           1                  
58T  29  Hugh Duffy          12    1                           1                  
58T  --  Chuck Finley        12    1                           1                  
58T  --  Carlos Moran        12    1                           1                  
58T  64T Tony Mullane        12    1                           1                  
58T  61T Billy Wagner        12    1                           1                  
64T  46  Dizzy Dean          11    1                              1               
64T  --  Fred Dunlap         11    1                              1               
64T  --  Harry Hooper        11    1                              1               
64T  53T Jack Quinn          11    1                              1               
68T  64T Kiki Cuyler         10    1                                 1            
68T  38  Orel Hershiser      10    1                                 1            
68T  --  Heavy Johnson       10    1                                 1            
71T  --  Dave Bancroft        9    1                                    1         
71T  --  Hurley McNair        9    1                                    1         
73T  --  Silvio Garcia        8    1                                       1      
73T  64T Luis Gonzalez        8    1                                       1      
73T  --  Tony Phillips        8    1                                       1      
76T  77T Luis Aparicio        7    1                                          1   
76T  --  Sam Bankhead         7    1                                          1   
76T  51T Brian Giles          7    1                                          1   
76T  51T Dale Murphy          7    1                                          1   
80   71T Robin Ventura        6    1                                             1
Dropped Out: Lou Brock (47T), Ron Cey (70), Dave Concepcion (77T), Andy Cooper (56T),
Ray Dandridge (43), Willie Davis (73), Carlos Delgado (74T), Lefty Gomez (77T), Gil Hodges (74T),
Trevor Hoffman (49), Jamie Moyer (68T), Kirby Puckett (68T), Hack Wilson (74T).
Ballots Cast: 27