Cardinals Hall of Fame balloting begins

March 11th, 2016

ST. LOUIS -- In a year when the organization will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its 2006 World Series championship, three players from that club will be first-time candidates for the Cardinals Hall of Fame.
Fan voting on the eight-player modern ballot began at Cardinals.com on Friday and will continue through April 20, after which the top two vote-getters will be officially enshrined into the organization's Hall of Fame. That induction ceremony is scheduled for Aug. 27 at Ballpark Village.
This year's ballot features the following players: Chris Carpenter, Scott Rolen, Jason Isringhausen, Keith Hernandez, Edgar Renteria, Mark McGwire, Matt Morris and Joe Torre. Carpenter, Rolen and Isringhausen were first-time candidates, as each of the three last played in 2012.
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The ballot was built by members of a Red Ribbon Committee, which considered the candidacy of 24 modern players before whittling that group down. The Cardinals define modern candidates as any players who have been retired from baseball for between three and 40 years and played at least three seasons in uniform for the Cardinals.

"I'm sure any two of that group will be great representatives in the Cardinals Hall of Fame," Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III said after unveiling the candidates in January.

In addition to the pair of inductees chosen by the fans, as many as two other former Cardinals -- one selected as a veteran player and the other an organizational pick -- will be enshrined in August as well.
The Red Ribbon Committee met on Friday to consider 10 veteran players for induction. These are players who have been retired for more than 40 years and spent at least three seasons with the organization. Those considered included Pepper Martin, Bill White, Whitey Kurowski, Orlando Cepeda, Terry Moore, Ripper Collins, Ray Blades, Harry Brecheen, Mort Cooper and Bill Doak.

It has not yet been announced which of those 10 players was selected through a 5-3-1 point voting system. The Cardinals also have the opportunity to select a fourth inductee to recognize a non-player who made great contributions to the organization.
This next induction ceremony will be the third annual, as the Cardinals opened their Hall of Fame in 2014 with a ceremony to enshrine all players whose number had previously been retired by the organization and/or whom had already been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Later that year, Willie McGee, Jim Edmonds, Mike Shannon and Marty Marion were added. The 2015 class included Bob Forsch, Ted Simmons, Curt Flood and George Kissell.