The new Hall of Fame picks - None

NEW YORK (AP) -- The redesigned Veterans Committee failed to elect anyone to the Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman and New York Mets manager Gil Hodges came closest, getting 50 votes and falling 11 shy.

Sixty-one of 81 votes were needed for election on the players' ballot, and 60 of 79 were needed on the "composite" ballot, which included managers, executives and umpires.

Minnesota hitting star Tony Oliva and NL umpire Doug Harvey each had 48 votes, and Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo had 46.

"I'm more hurt than disappointed," Santo said. "I was little bit too high. I feel I played the game the way it should be played. I felt I should be in there."

Former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley had 38 votes and Marvin Miller, the union head who helped player gain free agency, had 35. Former Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi had 34, followed by former Oakland manager Dick Williams (33) and Yankees manager Joe Torre, a former All-Star who has led New York to four World Series titles (29).

"It's a shame that nobody got elected," Torre said. "There were a couple of guys that I certainly would like to see in the Hall of Fame -- Marvin Miller was first and foremost in my mind; a guy I played against Ron Santo; Gil Hodges who was a quality player and manager; Roger Maris to me more than just a guy who hit 60 homers."

The last time the Veterans Committee failed to elect anyone was in 1993.

Under the old rules, the Veterans Committee met each year. With the new system, the Vets will pick players every two years and will consider managers, executives and umpires every four years.

Joe Morgan, the Hall's vice chairman, said he was "surprised" Miller didn't gain election, then amended that to "shocked."

"Marvin was the guy that kind of changed the landscape for the players, and you figured a lot of the players would vote for him," Morgan said.

For years, there were 15 members on the Veterans Committee and many baseball fans claimed the panel was full of cronyism, suggesting it met behind closed doors in Tampa to choose new Hall of Famers based on speeches, not statistics.

The criticism reached a crescendo in 2001 when the committee chose Bill Mazeroski, a career .260 hitter known for a great glove and his home run that won the 1960 World Series. His election was enthusiastically announced by committee chairman Joe Brown, who happened to be Pittsburgh's general manager when Maz played there.

So, the Hall decided to try a new way.

The new panel included 85 eligible members: the 58 living Hall of Fame players (newly elected Gary Carter and Eddie Murray don't get to vote yet), 25 Hall writers and broadcasters, and two members from the former Veterans Committee whose terms had not expired.

"It's understandable that some are disappointed because for those involved in baseball, being elected to the Hall of Fame is the highest honor imaginable," Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said. "Now that we have been through the process the first time, we believe the process works by upholding high standards for earning election and meeting the other criteria we established -- a more open, more inclusive, and more understandable process."

Clark said the Hall wanted to see the new system go through at least one more cycle before re-evaluating it.

"There really is no thought of changing the process," she said. "We need to see an entire cycle of the two-year wait between the ballots to see how it all falls into place."

Roger Maris, Joe Gordon and Bob Meusel also were among the 26 former players on the ballot. Whitey Herzog, Charlie O. Finley, Dick Williams and O'Malley were among the 15 former managers, executives and umpires.

Santo, who turned 63 Tuesday, had been hoping for some good news. The nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove third baseman had both legs amputated because of diabetes.

The 62-year-old Torre, the 1971 NL MVP and a nine-time All-Star, was listed on the player ballot. But the Hall made a point of encouraging voters to combine all of his achievements -- on the field and in the dugout -- in his candidacy.

Every manager who's won at least three championships has made the Hall. Some, however, may not vote for Torre until he's retired.

Hodges, who died in 1972, was an eight-time All-Star who hit 370 homers, mostly as a first baseman for the Dodgers. He also guided the 1969 New York Mets to the franchise's first title.

The 85-year-old Miller took over the Major League Baseball Players Association in 1966, when the average salary was $19,000. By the time he left, in 1981, it was $185,000, and the landmark free agency decision the union won in 1975 changed sports.