Fans to play role in voting for Hall of Fame broadcasters
SportsLine.com wire reports
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Baseball fans will have a chance to vote for nominees for the Frick Award, whose winner joins the Hall of Fame's broadcast wing.
The change was announced Friday by the Hall. The 169 candidates for the award are listed on the Hall's website. The top three go on a 10-person ballot, with Hall of Fame staff researchers selecting the other seven.
Among the candidates are Juan Alicea, Richie Ashburn, Lou Boudreau, Joe Buck, Don Drysdale, Dick Enberg, Harmon Killebrew, Ralph Kiner, Tony Kubek, Ned Martin, Tim McCarver, Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto, Brooks Robinson and Ron Santo.
Fan voting for the 2004 award runs until Dec. 1. Fans are allowed to vote once daily, and the Hall asks them to base their picks on continuity with a club, assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games and popularity with fans.
The candidates on the ballot have at least 10 years of continuous broadcast service with a major league team, a network or a combination of the two.
"Because baseball broadcasters have been one of the strongest links between the game and its fans since the 1920s, we wanted to give the fans a say in which broadcasters advance to the final ballot," Hall chairperson Jane Forbes Clark said.
Voting by a committee of 20, which includes 14 previous Frick winners and six historians and veteran media members, takes place in January. The winner is announced the following month and the winner will be inducted into the broadcast wing July 25.
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