elections to the baseball hall of fame for 1949 followed the rules in place since 1947, which had governed two successful elections of recent players. the baseball writers' association of america (bbwaa) voted by mail to select from players retired less than 25 years, with provision for a runoff in case of no winner. this year the runoff was necessary to elect one person, charlie gehringer. meanwhile, the old-timers committee, which met on no schedule and not since 1946, responded again to the continuing calls for election of more of the game's earlier stars. it selected mordecai brown and kid nichols.