Welcome to Tony Oliva’s Team!
By Fans, For Fans
VoteTonyO was started by a group of 12 fans in a suburban kitchen. Our mission is to get Minnesota Twins Legend Tony Oliva inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
We began in 2011, targeting the Golden Era Committee vote. over the course of 3 weeks we launched a campaign that produced 26,000 website hits, 20,000 Facebook views, and over 100 Twitter followers. We encouraged fans to write letters of support for Tony to the 16 committee members. The response was astounding! Letters and post cards came pouring in across the country. Unfortunately, Tony was not inducted.
Now we’ve set our signts on the 2014 vote.
So what is the election process for Tony Oliva?
As of right now, the process goes like this: every three years a “screening committee “ creates a list of 10 candidates from the “Golden Era,” including players, coaches, umpires and executives who made their greatest contributions to the sport of baseball between 1947 and 1972. A 16-member Veterans Committee made up of Hall of Famers, executives, baseball historians, and media members then votes on induction. The voting is based upon the individual’s record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the game. Each committee member may vote for up to 5 candidates and all candidates receiving at least 75% (or 12 votes) will earn election.
The Hall of Fame is a Museum, and is not controlled by MLB or Sports Writers Association. As such, the Veteran’s Committee rules may change at any time, and have done so on many occations in the past. It is our hope that the rules will change once again such that Tony does not have to wait until he is 76 to be up for election again.
But until that change occurs we will continue to shine a light on a brilliant career. What truly makes Tony Oliva a Hall of Famer is his character, integrity and contributions to the game. Our campaign aims to remind the public and the Veterans Committee that Tony Oliva belongs in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014!
About VoteTonyO.com
We are a group of friends, neighbors and fans of Tony Oliva, and are dedicated to educating the voters of the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee on why Tony Oliva belongs in the Hall of Fame. We are all volunteers, and 100% of the revenue generated goes directly toward expenses incurred to get Tony Oliva elected to the Hall of Fame. We are a licensed nonprofit corporation in the state of Minnesota.
Please check out our site to find out more information about the campaign, Tony O, and how you can help!
