Hall of Fame nominees for 2010 are announced

							Batting Stats
Rk		YoB	%vote	HOFm	HOFs	Yrs	G	AB
1	Andre Dawson	9th	67.0%	118	44	21	2627	9927
2	Bert Blyleven	12th	62.7%	120	50	22	218	451
3	Harold Baines	4th	5.9%	66	44	22	2830	9908
4	Lee Smith	8th	44.5%	135	13	18	770	64
5	Jack Morris	11th	44.0%	122	39	18	23	1
6	Tim Raines	3rd	22.6%	90	47	23	2502	8872
7	Mark McGwire	4th	21.9%	170	42	16	1874	6187
8	Alan Trammell	9th	17.4%	118	40	20	2293	8288
9	Dave Parker	14th	15.0%	124	42	19	2466	9358
10	Don Mattingly	10th	11.9%	134	34	14	1785	7003
11	Dale Murphy	12th	11.5%	116	34	18	2180	7960
12	Roberto Alomar	1st		194	57	17	2379	9073
13	Edgar Martinez	1st		132	50	18	2055	7213
14	Barry Larkin	1st		118	47	19	2180	7937
15	Andres Galarraga	1st		114	35	19	2257	8096
16	Fred McGriff	1st		100	48	19	2460	8757
17	Mike Jackson	1st		52	11	17	374	28
18	Ellis Burks	1st		50	42	18	2000	7232
19	Pat Hentgen	1st		37	12	14	42	84
20	Robin Ventura	1st		32	30	16	2079	7064
21	Kevin Appier	1st		32	24	16	41	83
22	Eric Karros	1st		30	17	14	1755	6441
23	Ray Lankford	1st		22	26	14	1701	5747
24	Shane Reynolds	1st		18	12	13	296	546
25	David Segui	1st		15	16	15	1456	4847
26	Todd Zeile	1st		14	27	16	2158	7573

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/12/2009.

Here's the nominees for the 2010 Hall of Fame to be voted on by the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) in January. The list is impressive this year with alot of 1st time nominees. Some of the nominees may come as a surprise, and some names are just assured to making it into the Hall of Fame. The process is not easy though here is the finer points of making it into the Hall of Fame:

This is from Wikipedia on the selection and voting process:

Players are currently inducted into the Hall of Fame through election by either the Baseball Writers Association of America (or BBWAA), or the Veterans Committee,^[9] which is now composed of living Hall of Famers; additional special committees, some including recipients of the two major awards, are also regularly formed to make selections. Five years after retirement, any player with 10 years of major league experience who passes a screening committee (which removes from consideration players of clearly lesser qualification) is eligible to be elected by BBWAA members with 10 years' membership or more. From a final ballot typically including 25–40 candidates, each writer may vote for up to 10 players; until the late 1950s, voters were advised to cast votes for the maximum 10 candidates. Any player named on 75% or more of all ballots cast is elected. A player who is named on fewer than 5% of ballots is dropped from future elections. In some instances, the screening committee had restored their names to later ballots, but in the mid-1990s, dropped players were made permanently ineligible for Hall of Fame consideration, even by the Veterans Committee. A 2001 change in the election procedures restored the eligibility of these dropped players; while their names will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, they may be considered by the Veterans Committee.

Under special circumstances, certain players may be deemed eligible for induction even though they have not met all requirements. This resulted in the induction of Addie Joss, who was elected in 1978 despite only playing in nine seasons due to his death from meningitis. Additionally, if an otherwise eligible player dies before his fifth year of retirement, then that player may be placed on the ballot at the first election at least six months after his death. Roberto Clemente's induction in 1973 set the precedent when the writers chose to put him up for consideration after his death on New Year's Eve, 1972.

Lineup for Yesterday
Z is for Zenith The summit of fame. These men are up there. These men are the game.
— Ogden Nash, Sportmagazine (January 1949)[10]

The five-year waiting period was established in 1954 after an evolutionary process. In 1936 all players were eligible, including active ones. From the 1937 election until the 1945 election, there was no waiting period, so any retired player was eligible, but writers were discouraged from voting for current major leaguers. Since there was no formal rule preventing a writer from casting a ballot for an active player, the scribes did not always comply with the informal guideline; Joe DiMaggio received a vote in 1945, for example. From the 1946 election until the 1954 election, an official one-year waiting period was in effect. (DiMaggio, for example, retired after the 1951 season and was first eligible in the 1953 election.) The modern rule establishing a wait of five years was passed in 1954, although an exception was made for Joe DiMaggio because of his high level of previous support, thus permitting him to be elected within four years of his retirement. Contrary to popular belief, no formal exception was made for Lou Gehrig, other than to hold a special one-man election for him. There was no waiting period at that time and Gehrig met all other qualifications, so he would have been eligible for the next regular election after he retired during the 1939 season, but the BBWAA decided to hold a special election at the 1939 Winter Meetings in Cincinnati, specifically to elect Gehrig (most likely because it was known that he was terminally ill, making it uncertain that he would live long enough to see another election). Nobody else was on that ballot, and the numerical results have never been made public. Since no elections were held in 1940 or 1941, the special election permitted Gehrig to enter the Hall while still alive.

If a player fails to be elected by the BBWAA within 20 years of his retirement from active play, he may be selected by the Veterans Committee, which now holds elections for players only for induction in odd-numbered years. However, only players whose careers began in 1943 or later will be eligible for election by the main Veterans Committee, in accordance with changes to the voting process for that body instituted in July 2007. These changes also established three separate committees to select other figures:

• One committee votes on managers and umpires for induction in every even-numbered year. The first vote by this committee was conducted in 2007 for induction in 2008.
• One committee votes on executives and builders for induction in every even-numbered year. This committee also conducted its first vote in 2007 for induction in 2008.
• One committee will vote every five years on players whose careers began in 1942 or earlier. It conducted its first vote as part of the election process for induction in 2009.