TAMPA, Fla. - Gil Hodges and Ron Santo were again denied by voters on the Veterans Committee for the Hall of Fame, raising doubts whether anyone can gain election from that panel.

Hodges and Santo fell eight votes shy of the necessary 75 percent, with each appearing on 52 ballots (65 percent) in totals announced Wednesday. Tony Oliva (45) and Jim Kaat (43) were the only other players to be picked on more than half of the 80 ballots.

It was the second straight shutout by the revamped committee, which includes all living members of the Hall and its writers' and broadcasters' wings, plus one holdover from the old Veterans Committee.

"It's almost impossible to go into the Hall of Fame the way the system is now," said Oliva, a guest coach for the Minnesota Twins during spring training. "It's ridiculous."

An eight-time All-Star and three-time AL batting champion, Oliva also said the committee favored those who got more exposure during their careers.

"If I came from New York, if I played in New York, I'd be there a long time ago," he said. "You play in Minnesota, they stick it to you."

Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall's chairman, defended the process and said the Hall's board will monitor each election. She said no changes are planned for the next ballot, in 2007.

"We feel the current process works by upholding the Hall of Fame's very high standards for election," she said.

Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg were elected to the Hall in January by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and will be inducted in a July 31 ceremony at Cooperstown, N.Y.

The old Veterans Committee, which usually had 15 members, was accused by some of cronyism and was abolished after it elected Bill Mazeroski, a career .260 hitter with a great glove, in 2001. The new committee first voted in 2003 and Hodges, the former Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman and New York Mets manager, received the most votes but fell 11 short.

The Veterans Committee considers players who didn't get elected during their 15 years on the BBWAA ballot. After two elections, it remains unclear whether the current veterans group can form a consensus to elect any candidate.

"I'm of the opinion it's going to be awfully hard, and maybe that's how it should be," Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver said.

Santo fell 15 votes shy in 2003, when 61 were needed for election. Oliva saw his vote total decline by three. Kaat was on the ballot for the first time,

New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, a former NL MVP, was fifth with 36 votes, an increase of seven. Maury Wills was next with 26, followed by Vada Pinson (23), Luis Tiant (20) and Roger Maris (19). Thurman Munson and old-time pitcher Smoky Joe Wood each received only two votes.

Voters averaged 5.7 players on their ballots, up from 5.3 in 2003. Clark said that in her view, the vote was not static because figures fluctuated.

While 102 members of the Hall have been elected by the BBWAA, 149 by the Veterans Committee and nine by the Negro Leagues Committee, Hall president Dale Petrosky pointed out that the veterans group put in many 19th century players. Of the 60 living Hall of Famers, only 12 were elected by the Veterans Committee, just seven of them players.

"With 75 percent of the vote required, it's a very, very tough situation and it's more difficult than it used to be," said retired Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, a member of the current and previous Veterans Committee, which met annually. "When I looked at the list this year, I saw so many deserving candidates that are on the same level, and I think that's why so many votes got split."

The current Veterans Committee votes every two years on players, every four years on a "composite" ballot of managers, umpires and executives. In 2003, former NL umpire Doug Harvey led that category with 48 votes, followed by former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley (38) and former players' association head Marvin Miller (35).

"Marvin Miller should be in the Hall of Fame, that's my feeling, for how he affected the game," Torre said in a thought endorsed by Seaver.

Oliva said the committee should have to wait until 2007 to vote again.

"I think Bud Selig has to do something about it," he said, referring to the baseball commissioner. "Two years is too much to wait."

Seaver said he voted for three or four players and thought the process was working.

"Will somebody make it out of this committee one day? Absolutely. I'm convinced they will," he said.