Updated "Franchise Four" balloting results announced
Voting at MLB.com/FranchiseFour Concludes on Friday, May 8th 17.4 Million Votes Cast So Far, With Close Races Throughout Campaign Aaron, Mays, Koufax and Seaver Top "Greatest Living Players"; Ryan on Three Lists; Ichiro, Aparicio, Walter Johnson, Robin Roberts and Hornsby Join Leaders
Major League Baseball today released the updated current leaders of the "Franchise Four" campaign, which allows fans to vote for the most impactful players who best represent each Major League franchise and several other significant categories in the sport's history. The winners of the month-long period of fan voting on MLB.com/FranchiseFour will be announced during pregame ceremonies before Baseball's 86th All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on FOX.
With more than 17.4 million votes cast so far and close races throughout the 33 categories, the highlights of the current leaders include the following:
- Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax and Tom Seaver continue to lead in the "Greatest Living Players" category.
- Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan appears on the Franchise Fours of the Los Angeles Angels, the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. The only other player to appear on multiple Club Franchise Fours is Vladimir Guerrero (Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Angels).
- Nine different franchises - the Baltimore Orioles, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Minnesota Twins, the New York Yankees, the Oakland Athletics, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals - have four Hall of Famers representing them in their respective Franchise Fours.
- The changes since the first balloting update issued on April 22nd are as follows: Luis Aparicio has passed Harold Baines to join the group of leaders for the White Sox; Walter Johnson has passed Tony Oliva to join the group of the Twins' franchise leaders, including their Senators roots; Robin Roberts has passed Chase Utley to join the Phillies' leaders; Rogers Hornsby has passed Ozzie Smith to join the Cardinals' leaders; and Ichiro Suzuki has passed Randy Johnson to join the Mariners' leaders.
Through Friday, May 8th, fans can visit MLB.com/FranchiseFour to select the four most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise out of eight choices from its lineage. An additional write-in option is available to fans on the ballot, which also can be accessed on their mobile devices. Eight players were selected based on the recommendations of a blue-ribbon panel, in consultation with the 30 Clubs. The panel was asked to identify "the most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise (or special category)" for the ballot.
The panelists were MLB's Official Historian John Thorn and representatives from MLB's official statistician, the Elias Sports Bureau; MLB.com; MLB Network; and the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). In addition to the 30 franchises, fans can vote for three special categories: the "Greatest Living Players"; the greatest Negro Leagues Players; and the sport's greatest Pioneers, encompassing players whose careers began more than a century ago.
The top four players who currently lead each category and all the players on the ballot at MLB.com/FranchiseFour can be viewed below.
| A.L. FRANCHISE | #1 PLAYER | #2 PLAYER | #3 PLAYER | #4 PLAYER | Other Candidates (*Listed Alphabetically*) |
| Baltimore Orioles | Cal Ripken, Jr. | Brooks Robinson | Jim Palmer | Frank Robinson | Paul Blair, Dave McNally, Eddie Murray, Boog Powell |
| Boston Red Sox | Ted Williams | Carl Yastrzemski | David Ortiz | Pedro Martinez | Dwight Evans, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Cy Young |
| Chicago White Sox | Frank Thomas | Paul Konerko | Minnie Minoso | Luis Aparicio | Luke Appling, Harold Baines, Eddie Collins, Nellie Fox |
| Cleveland Indians | Bob Feller | Jim Thome | Omar Vizquel | Larry Doby | Earl Averill, Lou Boudreau, Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker |
| Detroit Tigers | Al Kaline | Ty Cobb | Miguel Cabrera | Hank Greenberg | Sam Crawford, Charlie Gehringer, Alan Trammell, Justin Verlander |
| Houston Astros | Craig Biggio | Jeff Bagwell | Nolan Ryan | Lance Berkman | Jose Cruz, J.R. Richard, Mike Scott, Jimmy Wynn |
| Kansas City Royals | George Brett | Frank White | Bret Saberhagen | Dan Quisenberry | Alex Gordon, Hal McRae, Amos Otis, Willie Wilson |
| Los Angeles Angels | Nolan Ryan | Mike Trout | Tim Salmon | Vladimir Guerrero | Garret Anderson, Brian Downing, Chuck Finley, Jim Fregosi |
| Minnesota Twins | Harmon Killebrew | Kirby Puckett | Rod Carew | Walter Johnson | Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, Joe Mauer, Tony Oliva |
| New York Yankees | Babe Ruth | Lou Gehrig | Mickey Mantle | Joe DiMaggio | Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera |
| Oakland Athletics | Rickey Henderson | Jimmie Foxx | Dennis Eckersley | Reggie Jackson | Rollie Fingers, Lefty Grove, Catfish Hunter, Al Simmons |
| Seattle Mariners | Ken Griffey, Jr. | Edgar Martinez | Felix Hernandez | Ichiro Suzuki | Jay Buhner, Alvin Davis, Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Evan Longoria | David Price | James Shields | Ben Zobrist | Carl Crawford, Scott Kazmir, Carlos Peña, Melvin Upton, Jr. |
| Texas Rangers | Ivan Rodriguez | Nolan Ryan | Michael Young | Adrian Beltre | Juan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, Frank Howard, Rafael Palmeiro |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Roberto Alomar | Roy Halladay | Joe Carter | Carlos Delgado | Jose Bautista, George Bell, Tony Fernandez, Dave Stieb |
| N.L. FRANCHISE | #1 PLAYER | #2 PLAYER | #3 PLAYER | #4 PLAYER | Other Candidates (*Listed Alphabetically*) |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Randy Johnson | Luis Gonzalez | Curt Schilling | Paul Goldschmidt | Steve Finley, Mark Grace, Brandon Webb, Matt Williams |
| Atlanta Braves | Hank Aaron | Chipper Jones | Greg Maddux | Warren Spahn | Tom Glavine, Eddie Mathews, Dale Murphy, John Smoltz |
| Chicago Cubs | Ernie Banks | Ryne Sandberg | Ron Santo | Billy Williams | Three Finger Brown, Gabby Hartnett, Ferguson Jenkins, Sammy Sosa |
| Cincinnati Reds | Pete Rose | Johnny Bench | Joe Morgan | Barry Larkin | Dave Concepcion, Eric Davis, Tony Perez, Frank Robinson |
| Colorado Rockies | Todd Helton | Larry Walker | Andres Galarraga | Troy Tulowitzki | Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, Carlos Gonzalez, Matt Holliday |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Sandy Koufax | Jackie Robinson | Duke Snider | Don Drysdale | Roy Campanella, Steve Garvey, Clayton Kershaw, Fernando Valenzuela |
| Miami Marlins | Jeff Conine | Giancarlo Stanton | Mike Lowell | Gary Sheffield | Josh Beckett, Luis Castillo, Livan Hernandez, Charles Johnson |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Robin Yount | Paul Molitor | Cecil Cooper | Rollie Fingers | Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Jim Gantner, Gorman Thomas |
| New York Mets | Tom Seaver | Mike Piazza | David Wright | Keith Hernandez | Gary Carter, John Franco, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Mike Schmidt | Steve Carlton | Richie Ashburn | Robin Roberts | Jim Bunning, Chuck Klein, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Roberto Clemente | Honus Wagner | Willie Stargell | Bill Mazeroski | Barry Bonds, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor, Paul Waner |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Stan Musial | Bob Gibson | Lou Brock | Rogers Hornsby | Dizzy Dean, Albert Pujols, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith |
| San Diego Padres | Tony Gwynn | Trevor Hoffman | Dave Winfield | Randy Jones | Nate Colbert, Steve Garvey, Adrian Gonzalez, Jake Peavy |
| San Francisco Giants | Willie Mays | Willie McCovey | Barry Bonds | Buster Posey | Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott |
| Washington Nationals | Andre Dawson | Gary Carter | Vladimir Guerrero | Tim Raines | Dennis Martinez, Steve Rogers, Rusty Staub, Ryan Zimmerman |
| SPECIAL CATEGORY | #1 PLAYER | #2 PLAYER | #3 PLAYER | #4 PLAYER | Other Candidates (*Listed Alphabetically*) |
| Greatest Living Players | Hank Aaron | Willie Mays | Sandy Koufax | Tom Seaver | Johnny Bench, Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Pedro Martinez |
| Negro Leaguers | Satchel Paige | Josh Gibson | Cool Papa Bell | Buck O'Neil | Oscar Charleston, Martin Dihigo, Judy Johnson, Buck Leonard |
| Pioneers (Pre-1915) | Grover C. Alexander | George Sisler | Cap Anson | Wee Willie Keeler | Buck Ewing, King Kelly, Kid Nichols, George Wright |