Tomorrow’s a big day for Ron Santo. Sure, he turned 63 years old today, but tomorrow is the day that he finds out, if finally, he has earned a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Because, we here at Desipio are nothing, if not scientific. We’re going to tell you right now if Ron got in. You see, we know that of the 84 members of the reconstituted veteran’s committee [58 living members of the Hall of Fame, 13 living Ford C. Frick Award winners (broadcasters), 11 J.G. Taylor Spink Award recipients (sports writers) and two former Veterans Committee members whose terms have not yet expired] that 81 of them returned ballots. Since you have to receive 75 percent of the vote that means Santo needed to have his name on 61 of them.

Let’s see:

First we’ll take the Spink Award winners. Sportswriters. Vile scum that they are, they kept Santo out of the Hall each of the 15 years he was on the ballot. Only 11 of the winners are still alive, mainly attributable to the fact that they eat nothing but pork rinds. Since half of them are always wrong, we’ll give Ron the benefit of the doubt and give him six votes.

Then we have the Frick Award winners. Guys like Harry Kalas, Marty Brennaman, Milo Hamilton, Joe Garagiola, Curt Gowdy, Ernie Harwell and Vin Scully. Only the really hard assed ones like Milo wouldn’t vote for Ron. We’ll give him nine of the 13 votes, so he’s at 15.

I have no idea who the two remaining Veteran’s committee guys with unexpired terms are, but since they started putting in their pals the past few years (Nellie Fox? Bill Mazeroski?) you have to figure Ron got both votes, giving him 17.

So, of the 58 living Hall of Famers, Ron needs 44 votes to be inducted. However, three of them didn’t vote. Let’s look at the list and see who was likely to forget.

Given Santo’s luck, the three who forgot were Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams and Ernie Banks. Not likely though. I figure the three were Kirby Puckett (too busy trying to find a divorce lawyer), Orlando Cepeda (forgot he was even in the Hall of Fame) and Joe Morgan (just to be an ass.)

So, with 51 Hall of Famers left, Santo would still need 44 votes.

Here we go.

Player (year inducted)
Bob Feller (1962) — I still remember sitting in the stands last year in Winter Haven and seeing Feller wandering the stands in full uniform. Yikes. He’s senile, but he’s not that senile. Yes (43 votes needed.)

Stan Musial (1969) — Ronny has no doubt dumped a lot of cash in Stan’s St. Louis restaurant over the years. Yes (42 needed).

Yogi Berra (1972) — Ron who? Yogi’s not that bright, and except for maybe spring training he never faced Ron. But Yogi’s got a TV set, and chances are he voted for him. Yes (41 needed)

Sandy Koufax (1972) — While Bob Uecker owned Sandy at the plate (you can look it up) Sandy has pleasant memories of facing the Cubs. In fact, he threw the last no-hitter against the Cubs, the longest current streak of avoiding a no-hitter in baseball. Yes. (40 needed)

Monte Irvin (1973) — The former Negro League legend is still kickin’. His era preceeded Santo’s obviously and I’m going to say he didn’t vote for Ron. No (40 needed)

Warren Spahn (1973) — Spahn pitched forever, so he pitched against everybody. Since at the time of his retirement, the only third baseman who’d ever been better was Eddie Matthews, Spahn knows good ones when he sees them. Yes (39 needed).

Ralph Kiner (1975) — Kiner has said publicly he’d vote for Ron. Let’s hope he remembered. Yes (38 needed).

Robin Roberts (1976) — The ESPN lady? Who knew she had a vote? No (37 needed).

Ernie Banks (1977) — Let’s vote two! Sorry, Ernie. You only get one. Yes (36 needed)

Al Lopez (1977) — Given Ron’s love for his days with the White Sox, I’ll say no. Nah, on second thought, yes. (35 needed).

Willie Mays (1979) — You may run like Mays but you vote like s@#$. No (35 needed).

Al Kaline (1980) — Given that Santo was better than Al, he’d damn sure have better voted for Ron. Yes (34 needed).

Duke Snider (1980) — Another NL’er who crossed paths with Ron. Yes (33 needed).

Bob Gibson (1981) — Bob was a horse’s ass, but he knew a good hitter when he saw one. Yes (32 needed).

Hank Aaron (1982) — The Hammer played with Matthews and against Santo. Yes (31 needed).

Frank Robinson (1982) — Unless he was still in a coma from managing the Expos, he voted for Ron. Yes (30 needed).

George Kell (1983) — Since he weaseled his way in through the Veteran’s Committee he’d better have voted yes. (29 needed)

Juan Marichal (1983) — He no like hitters. No (29 needed)

Brooks Robinson (1983) — He was the Ron Santo of the American League. Not as good a hitter, but the best defensive third baseman of all-time. Brooks voted for Ron. (28 needed)

Luis Aparicio (1984) — Those damn White Sox. No (28 needed)

Harmon Killebrew (1984) — The Killer has said publicly that Ron should be in. Put your money where your mouth is, Harmon. Yes (27 needed).

Lou Brock (1985) — If not for Ernie Broglio, that could have been Lou who Ron ran out to the outfield to scream at instead of Don Young. Yes. (26 needed).

Bobby Doerr (1986) — Ron Who? No. (26 needed)

Willie McCovey (1986) — Played against Ron, probably chatted with him at first a few times. Sure. (25 needed).

Billy Williams (1987) — I was at Billy Williams Day in 1987 at Wrigley. Just thought you’d like to know. Yes. (24 needed)

Johnny Bench (1989) — After his catching days were over, Johnny humiliated himself at third for a while. He knows how hard it is. Yes. (23 needed)

Red Schoendienst (1989) — Even for a Cardinal, he’s almost likeable. Almost. Yes. (22 needed).

Carl Yastremski (1989) — Ron Who? Those damn Red Sox. No. (22 needed).

Jim Palmer (1990) — If he’s as smart as he pretends he is, he voted for Ron. Yes (21 needed).

Rod Carew (1991) — Too smooth to have not voted, too smart to have passed on Ron. Yes. (20 needed).

Fergie Jenkins (1991) — Unless Ron owes him money, it’s a shoo in. Yes. (19 needed).

Gaylord Perry (1991) — Cheated his way in, and even Ron is worried that he still holds a grudge from Ron running out the mound to pummel him. No. (19 needed).

Rollie Fingers (1992) — Rollie’s a cool guy. Cool guys vote for Ron. (18 needed).

Tom Seaver (1992) — Tom flocked to the cameras in Chicago recently at the Field Museum’s baseball exhibit and basically said that yes, he voted for Ron. Yes. (17 needed).

Reggie Jackson (1993) — Their careers crossed a little bit. Reggie knows hitters. Yes. (16 needed).

Steve Carlton (1994) — Just plain weird. But he voted for Ron. (15 needed).

Phil Rizzuto (1994) — Still a crime that he’s in the Hall. He should vote for everybody. Yes. (14 needed).

Mike Schmidt (1995) — If he didn’t, he needs to have his mustache ripped off. Yes. (13 needed).

Jim Bunning (1996) — Another Veterans Committee pick. He’s said repeatedly that he’d vote for Ron. Yes. (12 needed).

Earl Weaver (1996) — Managed Brooks Robinson and loved guys like Ron. Yes. (11 needed).

Tommy Lasorda (1997) — Tommy would vote for Mussolini if he was on the list. Ron’s name ends in a vowel. Yes. (10 needed).

Phil Niekro (1997) — Brother Joe was a Cub and Ron took Phil deep a few times. Yes. (nine needed).

Larry Doby (1998) — Always a guy who’s stats don’t measure up, but he’s as much for being a pioneer as a player. Yes. (eight needed).

Lee MacPhail (1998) — What, and keep Andy from being able to hold a Ron Santo Hall of Fame cherished teddy giveaway day? Never. Yes. (seven needed).

Don Sutton (1998) — We forgave him for that perm, he can forgive Ron and vote for him. Yes. (six needed).

George Brett (1999) — You’d think this would be a shoe-in. Brett played third, Santo played third. But Brett basically said in Chicago that he didn’t vote for Ron. Nope. (six needed).

Nolan Ryan (1999) — One hardass appreciates another. Yes. (five needed).

Robin Yount (1999) — Spent just enough time with Mark Grace in Arizona the last couple years. Yes. (four needed).

Sparky Anderson (2000) — Sparky has also publicly said he’d vote for Ron. Yes. (three needed).

Carlton Fisk (2000) — Fisk is a jerk. He’s always been a jerk. Do we expect that to change now? No. (three needed).

Tony Perez (2000) — After all the stuff I wrote about how didn’t deserve to be in, he’ll hold it against Ron. No, he won’t. (two needed).

Dave Winfield (2001) — Dave played long enough and is smart enough to know a great player. Yes. (one more!)

Ozzie Smith (2002) — Oh, those damn Cardinals! Noooooo! (one more!)

Bill Mazeroski (2001) — Hah! We knew there was a reason you got voted in. Ron needs 61 to get in. Bill Mazeroski is number 61.

So, Ron needed 61 of the 81 votes and by our very scientific calculations, he got…61. Whew.

Maybe there is a Santo clause, after all.