Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1963 followed a system established for odd-number years after the 1956 election. Namely, the baseball writers were voting on recent players only in even-number years.
The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected four people: 19th-century 300-game winner John Clarkson, turn-of-the-century outfielder Elmer Flick, 266-game winner Eppa Rixey, and outfielder Sam Rice, who had 2987 career hits. Flick, Rixey, and Rice were all still living at the time the selections were announced, however Rixey died several months before the induction ceremony.[1] A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on August 5, 1963, with Commissioner of BaseballFord Frick presiding.[2]
