Rixey didn't get any support until people realized that no lefty had more wins in NL history through the first 74 years of the league. Warren Spahn was approaching his record and then Rixey started getting a lot of media attention.
Before that, he never received more than 14% of the votes in 14 years on the Hall of Fame ballot. He then shot up to 50%, but still had to wait until the Veteran's Committee voted him in three years later.
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