Voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 BBWAA voting portion has officially begun. This year's ballot can be found heretogether with a breakdown of eight things you should know about the topic. We have that elsewhere Classic Era Committee Vote about nominees like Dick Allen, Tommy John, Dave Parker and Luis Tiant.
However, these may not cover everything, so I'm here to answer the frequently asked questions. Let's get down to business.
What voting rules apply?
The BBWAA vote is the traditional vote that most fans think of when they hear the “Hall of Fame vote” in baseball.
- Players deemed eligible for voting by the Hall of Fame will appear on the ballot once they have been retired for five seasons. The minimum length of service in Major League Baseball is 10 years.
- BBWAA voters receive ballots in the mail and may vote for up to 10 players. Since there is no minimum number, blank ballot papers can be returned.
- Any player on the ballot who receives at least 75% of the vote will be inducted into the Hall of Fame the following summer.
- Any player who receives less than 5% of the vote will be eliminated from voting for the next year.
- Players who receive between 5 and 75% of the vote are carried over to the next round of voting and can remain on the ballot for a total of up to 10 years.
- Any player who remains on the ballot over 10 voting cycles but still does not reach 75% of the vote will be removed from the ballot next year.
Why are there two separate votes?
First of all, as previously mentioned, the BBWAA ballot only covers recently retired players. There are referees, front office executives, pioneers, managers and even coaches who deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. So there needs to be some sort of system in place to train these people. Additionally, Negro Leagues players needed a path to introduction. And of course, there are players who deserve a second chance after being eliminated from the BBWAA ballot for one reason or another.
Here, the Hall of Fame has appointed several different committees over the years. The most famous (infamous?) is the Veterans Committee. This year it's the classic era.
Remember that the Hall of Fame is ultimately a museum, not just an incredibly exclusive list of what you think are the 25 or so greatest players of all time. It is much more than that. We can distinguish the tiers within the Hall of Famers themselves, but the actual Hall must continue to grow in order to both attract new visitors and continue to represent the game.
Who can vote?
The simple answer is: BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) members in good standing who have been active for at least 10 years. Those who have not primarily covered baseball may be removed from the voter rolls. There's a little more to the process, but really all fans need to know are people who reported on it have been members of the BBWAA for at least 10 years and are still actively covering baseball.
Personal note: This is the first year I have received an official ballot for the Hall of Fame.
Why do voting results change from year to year?
Logic would tell you that the voting total shouldn't change from year to year because a player's stats haven't changed. In a vacuum that would be correct. However, see above for all the rules. First of all, the electoral body changes every year. For example, I'm a first-time voter here for the Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Someone else won't be voting again for one reason or another. There's a pretty good chance I have different candidates on my ballot than they have on theirs. Now imagine this happening to dozens and dozens of people every year. Of course the totals can change there.
Not only that, but the ballot itself also changes. Adrian Beltré, Todd Helton and took part in the 2024 vote Joe Mauer to be included, while Gary Sheffield was eliminated after his tenth and final pass on the ballot. Let's say there's a voter out there who wants to vote for 12 players. You can't. There are a maximum of 10 places on each ballot paper. Now we're approaching the 2025 election and suddenly there are four additional spots for that voter. Maybe they just decide CC Sabathia And Ichiro Suzuki be considered worthy of a new vote. This leaves two places for players like Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, who didn't get his vote last time.
This happens every season and that's why the voices change. There's nothing shameful about that.
Where is Pete Rose?
It's always a polarizing topic and we expect a lot more people will be wondering this year why Pete Rose isn't on the ballot since he passed away on September 30th.
It's a pretty short answer.
Hall of Fame voting rules include the following (Rule 3E):
Any player on baseball's ineligible list is not an eligible candidate.
This is a Hall of Fame rule, not a BBWAA rule. The writers never had a say in Pete Rose and that remains the case here. He was finally declared ineligible by Major League Baseball in 1989 and never appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot. He's not there either.
One important difference is that we often hear it incorrectly said that Rose was “banned from baseball for life.” The actual wording is “permanently ineligible,” meaning his ban had not expired when he died. He is still ineligible.
Additionally, as mentioned in Rule 4B, no candidates for enrollment are permitted.
If you're yelling at the BBWAA Board of Elections for not electing Pete Rose, you've simply misdirected your complaint. There's nothing we can do about it.
Of course, things could change later, but for now: Pete Rose is still ineligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
How about Barry Bonds and/or Roger Clemens?
Now let's move on to the players who are not banned but were excluded from the ballot.
The two best players to fall off recently were Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, both of whom have all-time great resumes. They were also involved with PEDs, and that stain ultimately stopped them. Bonds came out on top with 66% of the vote in 2022, his 10th and final time on the ballot. Clemens received 65.2% of the vote this year.
Well, as we discussed above, once players are eliminated from the vote, they could have a chance to get in via an Era Committee. Bonds and Clemens were on the contemporary baseball era ballot for the Hall of Fame Class of 2023 and neither made the cut.
If you're wondering which players you think should be inducted into the Hall of Fame, the overwhelmingly likely answer is: The player is already off the ballot and hopes to one day be inducted via an era committee.
A few examples from recent years:
- Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and several others were likely excluded due to the PED connection, like Bonds and Clemens.
- Kenny Lofton and Johan Santana dropped out after just one choice attempt and probably deserved another chance. These are just two of dozens of examples of players who have a legitimate argument and couldn't spend much time voting.
- Fred McGriff, Jack Morris, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell are examples of players who recently dropped out of the BBWAA ballot but were then inducted into the Hall of Fame relatively quickly thanks to a committee. McGriff received 39.8% of the vote in his tenth year on the ballot (2019 election) and was then selected to the Class of 2023 by the Modern Baseball Era Committee.