The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1973 or later, but not after 1987; the ballot included candidates from the 1992 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 1987. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.
Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. Results of the 1993 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 5. The ballot consisted of 32 players; a total of 423 ballots were cast, with 318 votes required for election. A total of 2,437 individual votes were cast, an average of 5.76 per ballot—a record low up to this point, and the first BBWAA election to average fewer than 6 names per ballot. Those candidates receiving less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). The one candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been elected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. The 11 candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Elected to the Hall. These individuals are also indicated in bold italics.
Players who were elected in future elections. These individuals are also indicated in plain italics.
Players not yet elected who returned on the 1994 ballot.
Eliminated from future BBWAA voting. These individuals remain eligible for future Veterans Committee consideration.
The newly-eligible players included 27 All-Stars, twelve of whom were not included on the ballot, representing a total of 78 All-Star selections. Among the new candidates were 14-time All-Star Reggie Jackson, 10-time All-Star Steve Garvey, 6-time All-Star Ron Cey and 5-time All-Star Cecil Cooper. The field included two MVPs (Jackson and Garvey) and one Rookie of the Year (Gary Matthews).
Leonard Koppett (1923–2003) and Bus Saidt (1920–1989) received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring baseball writers.[2][3] The awards were voted at the December 1992 meeting of the BBWAA, and included in the summer 1993 ceremonies.