Baseball Hall Of Fame Roster Poised For Multi-Player Classes Coming Soon

The roster of the Baseball Hall of Fame is likely to enjoy a sharp increase after the two-member Class of 2023. That will swell membership to 342 with more are coming as soon as later this year — and more when the Class of 2024 is completed next January.

In addition to Todd Helton, who just missed the required 75 per cent for election this year, there are two strong first-time eligibles in Adrian Beltre and Joe Mauer, plus such non-playing contenders as former managers Jim Leyland, Lou Piniella, and Davey Johnson.

The “regular” vote, conducted annually by the Baseball Writers Association of America, elected only former third baseman Scott Rolen this year, while the Contemporary Baseball Eras Committee chose Fred McGriff, a first baseman with 493 home runs, by unanimous vote at the San Diego Winter Meetings in December.

The second half of that committee, an offshoot of the old Veterans Committee, will consider managers, executives, and umpires who excelled after 1980 when it meets in Nashville at the next Winter Meetings.

When its 10-man ballot is chosen by a special Hall of Fame panel, it could include the late George Steinbrenner, long-time owner of the New York Yankees; one-time television magnate Ted Turner, whose Atlanta Braves won a record 14 straight divisional titles; and Joe West, who umpired more years (43) and more games (5,460) than anyone else.

Leyland, Piniella, and Johnson each won world championships during their long tenures, with the Florida (now Miami) Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Mets, respectively. Piniella and Leyland were three-time Managers of the Year, an award Johnson won twice.

When the writers vote for the Class of 2024, they will consider several prominent holdovers from the last ballot.

Five players, including Helton, received at least 55 per cent of the vote, with all of them increasing their percentages from a year ago.

Billy Wagner got 68.1 per cent, Andruw Jones got 58.1 per cent, and Gary Sheffield got 55 per cent. Carlos Beltran, eligible for the first time, finished at 46.5 per cent.

All will appear on the Class of 2024 ballot but it will be Sheffield’s 10th and final year on the writers’ ballot. After that, his candidacy will revert to the Contemporary Baseball Players Eras Committee, which will next meet to consider players for the Class of 2026.

Several strong first-year candidates could be elected soon.

Beltre, a four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glover, played 2,759 games at third base, second on the lifetime list. He is the only player in big-league history with at least 450 home runs and 3,000 hits.

Mauer, the only catcher ever to win three batting titles, also won three Gold Gloves. The 2009 American League MVP spent his entire 15-year tenure with the Minnesota Twins, finishing as a first baseman after injuries forced a position switch. In six of his ten seasons behind the plate, he posted an on-base percentage of .400 – an achievement done by only four other backstops.

There’s even a third possible first-rounder in the Class of 2024. Chase Utley, a slugging second baseman who made six All-Star teams and reached 100 runs batted in four times, not only helped lead the Phillies to the 2008 world championship but hit five home runs, tying a record, in the World Series a year later.

In the Class of 2005, the slam-dunk among first-timers is Ichiro Suzuki, a .311 lifetime hitter who led the American League in hits seven times, batting twice, and stolen bases once. He and Fred Lynn remain the only players to be Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.

Another strong candidate in that election will be CC Sabathia, one of five pitchers with at least 250 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and a .600 winning percentage. The MVP of the 2009 American League Championship Series, he also won the Cy Young Award a month later.

The Class of 2027 is virtually certain to have a first-time electee in former catcher Buster Posey, while the Class of 2028 should have two St. Louis Cardinals favorites in three-time MVP Albert Pujols, who hit 703 home runs, and Yadier Molina, a catcher who won nine Gold Gloves and took 10 trips to the All-Star Game.

Pujols showed promise immediately, winning NL Rookie of the Year honors, and finished with 3,384 hits, 10th on the lifetime list.

Results of the Eras Committee vote will be known more than a month before the next BBWAA decision is revealed in late January.

The Class of 2023 will be inducted at the Clark Sports Center, less than a mile from the Hall of Fame itself, in Cooperstown, NY.