<p>Following the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum&#8217;s Board of Directors meeting that took place in late February, the Hall of Fame<a href="https://baseballhall.org/news/hall-of-fame-announces-updates-from-february-board-meeting"> announced yesterday</a> that they are making some small adjustments to the Era Committee eligibility system that allows former managers, executives, and umpires a chance to enter Cooperstown. This also includes eligible players who have fallen off the regular 10-year ballot or have been retired for more than 15 seasons.</p>
<p>The first tweak was more clerical in nature, in that the Board announced that the members of the overview committee that develops the ballot consideration for the different Era Committees each year will now have to be approved by the Hall of Fame&#8217;s Board of Directors. Previously, it was the Baseball Writers&#8217; Association of America who decided on their own on who was appointed to the Historical Overview Committee. Following this ruling, now the BBWAA&#8217;s appointments will need another check off by the Board of Directors before the ballot can be produced.</p>
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<p>Secondly, and probably the more important news of the announcement, is that the Board has announced some changes to the eligibility for the Era Committee ballots in regards to hitting minimum voting thresholds.</p>
<p>Beginning this year (this upcoming December), any candidate on their respective Era Committee ballot who does not receive at least five of the 16 votes from the voting staff will not be eligible for the next ballot within the next cycle of that era (it is a three-year span). Furthermore, individuals who find themselves on a future ballot (who have previously received fewer than five votes on their last ballot) and once again do not hit the minimum five threshold, will not be eligible for any future ballots moving forward, thus ending their chances of entering Cooperstown.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum today announced a number of updates following the Board meeting that took place on Feb. 26 in Orlando, Fla. <a href="https://t.co/8TMS9dlolV">https://t.co/8TMS9dlolV</a> <a href="https://t.co/yjJ72zJfip">pic.twitter.com/yjJ72zJfip</a></p>
<p>&mdash; National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) <a href="https://twitter.com/baseballhall/status/1897387946791039064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>For example, this past winter was the Classic Era ballot &#8211; eligible persons must have been involved in the game before 1980 &#8211; and of the eight individuals, six did not reach the minimum threshold to enter Cooperstown and five of those individuals received fewer than five votes.</p>
<p>One of those players was Steve Garvey. With these new rules in place, should Garvey appear on the next Classic Era ballot (December of 2027 for the 2028 class) and receive fewer than five votes, he would have to wait for the next cycle to pass through before being eligible again for the Classic Era ballot in six years. Should Garvey find himself on that ballot again (this would be December of 2033 for the 2034 Hall of Fame Class) and receive fewer than five votes for a second time, he will no longer be eligible for future Hall of Fame ballots under the Era Committee system.</p>
<p>This adjustment was put in place by the Board of Directors to ensure more eligible players are considered on the Era Committee ballots moving forward while those who continue to receive limited support are removed from contention on the ballots. The Blue Jays have a connection to the Board of Directors, with Paul Beeston being named to the group alongside former notable players in Ken Griffey Jr., Craig Biggio, Cal Ripken Jr., and Ozzie Smith (amongst others). The Board will review the eligibility adjustments this winter.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, this could have a bigger impact on players who were tied to steroids and PEDs in their respective careers and can now only enter Cooperstown via their respective Era Committees. Players with these ties may not sit favourably depending on who is voting, as this is a topic every year with the BBWAA already, and those who receive five or fewer votes may see limited chances of entering the Hall of Fame or falling off future ballots completely.</p>
<p>For the<a href="https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-fame/election-rules/era-committees"> upcoming Class of 2026</a>, the Contemporary Baseball Era/Player ballot will be on the docket, where eight eligible players who made contributions to the game post-1980 will be named and voted on in December of this year. The Contemporary Era managers-executives-umpires portion will follow the year after before the Classic Era ballot comes back around for the Class of 2028.</p>
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Following the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's Board of Directors meeting that took place in late February, the Hall of Fame<a href="https://baseballhall.org/news/hall-of-fame-announces-updates-from-february-board-meeting"> announced yesterday</a> that they are making some small adjustments to the Era Committee eligibility system that allows former managers, executives, and umpires a chance to enter Cooperstown. This also includes eligible players who have fallen off the regular 10-year ballot or have been retired for more than 15 seasons.

The first tweak was more clerical in nature, in that the Board announced that the members of the overview committee that develops the ballot consideration for the different Era Committees each year will now have to be approved by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors. Previously, it was the Baseball Writers' Association of America who decided on their own on who was appointed to the Historical Overview Committee. Following this ruling, now the BBWAA's appointments will need another check off by the Board of Directors before the ballot can be produced.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="330" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="“web-content-promocard&quot;"></div>
Secondly, and probably the more important news of the announcement, is that the Board has announced some changes to the eligibility for the Era Committee ballots in regards to hitting minimum voting thresholds.

Beginning this year (this upcoming December), any candidate on their respective Era Committee ballot who does not receive at least five of the 16 votes from the voting staff will not be eligible for the next ballot within the next cycle of that era (it is a three-year span). Furthermore, individuals who find themselves on a future ballot (who have previously received fewer than five votes on their last ballot) and once again do not hit the minimum five threshold, will not be eligible for any future ballots moving forward, thus ending their chances of entering Cooperstown.

https://twitter.com/baseballhall/status/1897387946791039064

For example, this past winter was the Classic Era ballot - eligible persons must have been involved in the game before 1980 - and of the eight individuals, six did not reach the minimum threshold to enter Cooperstown and five of those individuals received fewer than five votes.

One of those players was Steve Garvey. With these new rules in place, should Garvey appear on the next Classic Era ballot (December of 2027 for the 2028 class) and receive fewer than five votes, he would have to wait for the next cycle to pass through before being eligible again for the Classic Era ballot in six years. Should Garvey find himself on that ballot again (this would be December of 2033 for the 2034 Hall of Fame Class) and receive fewer than five votes for a second time, he will no longer be eligible for future Hall of Fame ballots under the Era Committee system.

This adjustment was put in place by the Board of Directors to ensure more eligible players are considered on the Era Committee ballots moving forward while those who continue to receive limited support are removed from contention on the ballots. The Blue Jays have a connection to the Board of Directors, with Paul Beeston being named to the group alongside former notable players in Ken Griffey Jr., Craig Biggio, Cal Ripken Jr., and Ozzie Smith (amongst others). The Board will review the eligibility adjustments this winter.

Looking ahead, this could have a bigger impact on players who were tied to steroids and PEDs in their respective careers and can now only enter Cooperstown via their respective Era Committees. Players with these ties may not sit favourably depending on who is voting, as this is a topic every year with the BBWAA already, and those who receive five or fewer votes may see limited chances of entering the Hall of Fame or falling off future ballots completely.

For the<a href="https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-fame/election-rules/era-committees"> upcoming Class of 2026</a>, the Contemporary Baseball Era/Player ballot will be on the docket, where eight eligible players who made contributions to the game post-1980 will be named and voted on in December of this year. The Contemporary Era managers-executives-umpires portion will follow the year after before the Classic Era ballot comes back around for the Class of 2028.

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Baseball Hall of Fame makes adjustment to future Era Committee eligibility guidelines

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