as there was a question of whether they were to be considered for this separate honor. The reduction of the field of eligible candidates was considerable; the players elected by the Old-Timers Committee in 1946 had received 37% of the vote in the last BBWAA election, and had included 4 of the top 5 candidates. Players now ineligible due to retirement prior to the cutoff point accounted for an additional 14% of the 1946 vote, and players returning from WWII had received another 2%. Because less than half of the previous year's votes had been cast for those still eligible, hopes had increased that new inductees might at last be elected. Election results A total of 161 ballots were cast, with 1,559 individual votes for 39 specific candidates, an average of 9.68 per ballot; 121 votes were required for election. The results were announced in January 1947. For the first time in three elections and five years, the election was successful, electing four new inductees to the Hall; it was the largest group of inductees since the initial selections in 1936, and no runoff was necessary. The new system was hailed as a great success, and would be used with relatively minor revisions in the ensuing years. The number of players receiving votes (39) was the lowest for any election yet, and barely half of the previous year's total (76). Very few players received votes who had not appeared in past voting, suggesting that with the new rules in effect, many voters focused on the previous year's results; with only weeks to complete their ballots, there was perhaps a limited effort to look for new candidates who had retired in the years between 1922 and 1945. With precise historical records scarce, and little time to seek them, there may also have been some uncertainty regarding particular candidates as to whether they had retired before or after 1922. Chief Bender, who received 72 votes, had played his last regular season in 1917; he was technically still eligible due to a single inning pitched in 1925, though it is unknown whether voters were aware of this. Bender had been - along with Mordecai Brown, an earlier figure who was more clearly now ineligible - one of only two pre-1920 candidates who received over 10% of the 1946 vote without being selected later by the Old-Timers Committee. Besides Bender, 4 other votes in