Ex-Nats manager Johnson on Today's Game Era ballot for Baseball Hall of Fame

When the Winter Meetings convene next month in Las Vegas, a committee of baseball writers and historians will vote on a slate of candidates that could land a second former National in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Former Nationals manager Davey Johnson is one of 10 names appearing on the Today's Game Era ballot that will be considered and voted upon on Dec. 9. Any candidate receiving votes on 75 percent of the ballots cast by the 16-member Today's Game Era Committee will earn election into the Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies will be held in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 21.

Johnson managed the Nationals from 2011-13, posting a 224-183 record and leading them to their first postseason appearance in 2012. He was named National League Manager of the Year in 2012.

Prior to joining the Nats front office and ascending to the managerial role after the abrupt resignation of Jim Riggleman in June 2011, Johnson managed the Mets, Reds, Orioles and Dodgers. Johnson has a 1,372-1.071 career record (.562) over 17 seasons as a major league manager, won six division titles and guided the Mets to the 1986 World Series championship. Only once in his 14 full seasons as a big league skipper did his teams finish with a record below .500.

Johnson is one of three managers on the ballot, which also includes former Phillies and Indians skipper Charlie Manuel and longtime manager Lou Piniella, who piloted the Yankees, Reds, Mariners, Rays and Cubs. Also on the ballot are former players Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Joe Carter, Will Clark, Lee Smith and Orel Hershiser, and longtime Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

The Today's Game Era ballot was determined this fall by the Historical Overview Committee, comprised veteran historians Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun), Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Bill Madden (formerly New York Daily News), Jack O'Connell (Baseball Writers' Association of America), Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram), Tracy Ringolsby (Baseball America), Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle), Dave van Dyck (Chicago Tribune) and Mark Whicker (Los Angeles News Group).