Veterans Committee doesn't add to 2005 Hall inductees

TAMPA, Fla. -- Baseball's Veterans Committee kept the door to the Hall of Fame closed for the second straight time, leaving Gil Hodges and Ron Santo on the outside and raising doubts whether anyone can gain election.

Hodges and Santo fell eight votes shy of the necessary 75 percent, with each appearing on 52 ballots (65 percent) in totals announced Wednesday. Tony Oliva (45) and Jim Kaat (43) were the only other players to be picked on more than half of the 80 ballots.

It was the second straight shutout by the revamped committee, which includes all living members of the Hall and its writers' and broadcasters' wings, plus one holdover from the old Veterans Committee.

"It's almost impossible to go into the Hall of Fame the way the system is now," said Oliva, a guest coach for the Minnesota Twins during spring training. "It's ridiculous."

An eight-time All-Star and three-time AL batting champion, Oliva also said the committee favored those who got more exposure during their careers.

"If I came from New York, if I played in New York, I'd be there a long time ago," he said. "You play in Minnesota, they stick it to you."

Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall's chairman, defended the process and said the Hall's board will monitor each election. She said no changes are planned for the next ballot, in 2007.

"We feel the current process works by upholding the Hall of Fame's very high standards for election," she said.

Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg were elected to the Hall in January by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and will be inducted in a July 31 ceremony at Cooperstown, N.Y.

The old Veterans Committee, which usually had 15 members, was accused by some of cronyism and was abolished after it elected Bill Mazeroski, a career .260 hitter with a great glove, in 2001. The new committee first voted in 2003 and Hodges, the former Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman and New York Mets manager, received the most votes but fell 11 short.

The Veterans Committee considers players who didn't get elected during their 15 years on the BBWAA ballot. After two elections, it remains unclear whether the current veterans group can form a consensus to elect any candidate.

"I'm of the opinion it's going to be awfully hard, and maybe that's how it should be," Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver said.

Santo fell 15 votes shy in 2003, when 61 were needed for election. Oliva saw his vote total decline by three. Kaat was on the ballot for the first time,