Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Dave Parker, Vic Harris, Tommy John and Luis Tiant were revealed Monday by the Hall of Fame as this year’s candidates on the Era Committee ballot.
Most commonly known as the “veterans committee,” a panel of 16 people (comprised of former players, executives, sportswriters and historians) will meet during the Winter Meetings to vote on whether or not any of these eight candidates will be elected to Cooperstown.
At least 12 of 16 votes are needed for induction, and the results of the balloting will be revealed on Dec. 8.
The Era Committee rotates between three pools of candidates every year — players from the “Contemporary Baseball” era of 1980 until the present, managers/executives/umpires from this same 1980-present period, and all individuals from the “Classic Baseball” era of pre-1980.
This year’s ballot focused on the Classic Baseball era, ranging from well-known MLB stars to somewhat lesser-known names like Harris and Donaldson, who were both icons of the Negro Leagues.
Several of the candidates have appeared on Era Committee ballots in the past, with Allen infamously falling a single vote short of induction in both 2015 and 2021. Harris was also a near-miss on the 2021 ballot, landing 10 of the minimum 12 votes necessary for induction to Cooperstown.
Narrowly missing out on what is already a second-chance ballot adds to the bittersweet nature of the Era Committee. While the process has corrected many oversights from the writers’ ballot, getting to these oversights sometimes decades after the fact means that some of the inductees aren’t able to personally enjoy their day of glory in Cooperstown.
Garvey, Parker and John are the only members of this year’s ballot who are still alive, as Tiant passed away less than a month ago.
The Era Committee ballot is separate from the annual BBWAA ballot for more modern Hall of Fame candidates, and the results of the BBWAA ballot will be revealed on Jan. 21.
Ichiro Suzuki is a lock for induction in his first year on that ballot, and C.C. Sabathia and Felix Hernandez are two other first-timers with solid Cooperstown cases.