The following article is part of my ongoing look at the candidates on the 2017 Today’s Game Era Hall of Fame ballot, which will be voted upon by a 16-member committee of writers, executives and Hall of Fame players on Dec. 5 at the Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Md. For a detailed introduction to the Today’s Game Era ballot, please see here.
Three years ago, when the Expansion Era Committee considered a slate of 12 candidates whose greatest contribution to baseball came from 1973 onward, only managers Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre—a trio who rank third, fourth and fifth all-time in wins, with 17 pennants and eight championships between them—mustered the necessary 75%.