Baseball Hall of Fame announces changes to Era Committee eligibility requirements
David Adler
@_dadlerThe Hall of Fame has announced changes to the Era Committee election system -- which allows players retired for more than 15 years to be considered for the Hall of Fame, as well as managers, umpires and executives.
Beginning in 2025, any Hall of Fame candidate on an Era Committee ballot who does not receive at least five votes from the 16-member Era Committee panel will not be eligible to be placed back on the ballot in its next three-year cycle.
A candidate can still return to an Era Committee ballot after skipping one cycle. But any candidate who does not receive five votes on multiple Era Committee ballots will no longer be eligible for any future ballots.
"The Era Committee eligibility adjustments are the outcome of years-long discussions centered on ensuring that more candidates have the chance to be reviewed as part of this process," Hall of Fame chairman Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement.
There are three Era Committees ballots -- the Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot (covering 1980 to the present), the Contemporary Baseball Era manager/executive/umpire ballot (for the same period) and the Classic Baseball Era ballot (covering baseball prior to 1980, including the Negro Leagues).
Those ballots rotate through a three-year election cycle, with one being considered each year for inclusion in the next Hall of Fame class. A candidate must receive 75% of votes to be elected.
In 2025, the Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot is up for consideration.
Last year, the Classic Baseball Era Committee elected sluggers Dick Allen and Dave Parker to the Hall of Fame out of an eight-player ballot. The Era Committee allowed Allen and Parker to earn induction into Cooperstown via an alternate path to the traditional Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot.
Besides the changes to Era Committee ballot eligibility, the Hall of Fame also announced that the members of the Historical Overview Committee, which develops the ballots for the Era Committees, will now also be approved by the Hall of Fame Board of Directors. Those members are appointed by the BBWAA.