The 2021 National Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced during a live MLB Network broadcast on Tuesday. The broadcast will begin at 6 p.m. ET, with the announcement to come shortly thereafter. Approximately 400 long-tenured members of the Baseball Writers Association of America are expected to cast ballots this year. Here are the storylines you need to know.
Players need to appear on 75 percent of the submitted ballots to be voted into the Hall of Fame and there is a chance no players will be voted in this year. As of Tuesday afternoon, Curt Schilling has appeared on 74.9 percent of public ballots, which at present cover about half the total ballots submitted. Schilling currently has the highest voting percentage among eligible players this year.
Historically, the non-public ballots drag down a player’s final voting percentage. That has certainly been true with Schilling. Last year he appeared on 73.7 percent on public ballots and finished with a 70.0 percent final percentage. It was 64.7 percent and 60.9 percent the year before that, and 57.5 percent and 51.2 percent the year before that. So on and so forth.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, arguably the greater hitter and pitcher of their generation, have seen their support stagnate in the 50-60 percent range the last few years and it is unlikely they will be inducted into Cooperstown given their ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Schilling’s support is trending up and he has a good chance to be voted in at some point.
Of course, this is the penultimate year on the ballot for Bonds, Clemens, and Schilling. If they are not voted in this year, all three will appear on the ballot for the 10th and final time next year. If they’re not voted in then, their Hall of Fame fates will be passed on to the Eras Committees, which meet every few years to consider players not voted in my the BBWAA.
Other notables on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot include Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, Andy Pettitte, Manny Ramirez, Scott Rolen, Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa, Omar Vizquel, and Billy Wagner. This is Sosa’s ninth year on the ballot and Kent’s eighth year on the ballot. Everyone else on the ballot has at least three years of eligibility remaining.
If no players are voted in this year, it would be the eighth time the BBWAA did not vote a player into the Hall of Fame. It also happened in 1945, 1950, 1958, 1960, 1965, 1971, 1996, and 2013. Although no players were voted into Cooperstown in 2013, eight players on that year’s ballot were eventually voted in by the BBWAA.
Even if no players are voted in this year, there will be an induction ceremony in Cooperstown in July. Last year’s ceremony was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Hall of Fame class will be honored this summer. Derek Jeter, Ted Simmons, Larry Walker, and the late Marvin Miller were voted in last year.
Following along below for news and analysis leading up to, during, and after this year’s Hall of Fame class is announced.
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