As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players, with results announced on January 9, 2012.

A total of 2,921 individual votes were cast, an average of 5.10 per ballot - the lowest rate ever, breaking the record of 5.32 set in 1997.

[3] Those candidates who received less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.

The most prominent new candidates included Bernie Williams, Rubén Sierra, Vinny Castilla, Eric Young, Tim Salmon, and Brad Radke.

[3] Players who were eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Manny Alexander, Edgardo Alfonzo, Pedro Astacio, David Bell, Giovanni Carrara, Mike DeJean, Einar Díaz, Joey Eischen, Scott Erickson, Carl Everett, Jeff Fassero, Alex Gonzalez, Danny Graves, Todd Greene, Jason Grimsley, Chris Hammond, Rick Helling, Dustin Hermanson, Jose Hernandez, Todd Hollandsworth, Damian Jackson, Kevin Jarvis, Steve Karsay, Tim Laker, Matt Lawton, Eli Marrero, Mike Matheny, Quinton McCracken, Dan Miceli, Jeff Nelson, Eduardo Pérez, Todd Pratt, Curtis Pride, Joe Randa, Mike Remlinger, Félix Rodríguez, Michael Tucker, José Vizcaíno, Chris Widger, Tim Worrell and Esteban Yan.

ESPN.com columnist Jim Caple noted several days before the announcement of the 2012 results that the PED issue and the BBWAA's limit of 10 votes per ballot was likely to result in a major backlog in upcoming elections:[8] Due to the steroid issue and a general lack of consensus, the following players will probably be on the ballot in three years: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martínez, Randy Johnson, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, John Smoltz, Edgar Martínez, Mark McGwire, Mike Mussina, Jeff Kent, Larry Walker, Alan Trammell, Fred McGriff, Rafael Palmeiro, Lee Smith, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and, of course, Bernie [Williams].

Finding room for Bonds, Clemens, Pedro, Johnson and others means I'll have to dump more good players from my ballot than the Marlins dumped after winning the 1997 World Series.In keeping with the restructured Hall of Fame voting procedure, the existing BBWAA-appointed Historical Overview Committee identified 10 Golden Era candidates who were judged to have made their greatest contributions between 1947 and 1972.

Along with the 1947–1972 era, these rules defined the consideration set:[14] Historical Overview Committee (11 BBWAA members): Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune); Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau); Bill Madden (New York Daily News); Ken Nigro (formerly The Baltimore Sun); Jack O'Connell (BBWAA secretary/treasurer); Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle); Claire Smith (ESPN); Tracy Ringolsby (FSN Rocky Mountain); and Mark Whicker (Orange County Register).

They were Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun; Paul Hagen, then of the Philadelphia Daily News; and Russell Schneider, formerly of The Plain Dealer of Cleveland.

The winner of the 2012 J. G. Taylor Spink Award, announced at the winter meetings, was Bob Elliott, who received 205 votes from the 455 ballots cast.

He was the 2010 recipient of the Jack Graney Award, given irregularly for excellence in either writing or broadcasting, from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

[22] In accord with guidelines established in 2003, seven were chosen by a committee composed of the living recipients along with broadcasting historians and columnists.

[22] On December 7, Tim McCarver, the lead analyst for Major League Baseball on Fox since 1996, was named as the recipient.