The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected Steve Carlton.

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.

The field included MVP (Don Baylor), three Cy Young Award winners (Sutter, Ron Guidry, and Carlton, who won four times), and two Rookies of the Year (Chris Chambliss and Bob Horner).

Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Bill Almon, Joaquín Andújar, Juan Beníquez, Ron Davis, Iván DeJesús, Gene Garber, Steve Henderson, Larry Herndon, Steve Kemp, Tippy Martinez, Donnie Moore, Jim Morrison, Jerry Mumphrey, Gary Roenicke, Jerry Royster, Lary Sorensen, Willie Upshaw, and Butch Wynegar.

Wendell Smith (1914–1972) received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer.