OUT OF LEFT FIELD | Cooperstown Stopped Saying No, Opened Pandora’s Box

Sometimes, the hardest word to say is “no.” The National Baseball Hall of Fame would certainly understand that struggle. Over the years, Cooperstown has become overinclusive—the Hall of Fame is well on its way to becoming a “Hall of Very Good.”

Every year, approximately 400 journalists from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) cast their Hall of Fame ballots. To be inducted, a player must appear on 75% of these ballots. Players who earn at least 5% of the vote remain on the ballot the following year, continuing to appear until they are elected or fail to be elected after 10 attempts.

A player becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot five years after they have played their final MLB game, provided they have at least 10 seasons in the league. Typically, between 25 and 35 players appear on a given ballot. Voters may select up to 10 candidates but are not required to select any at all.

The strength of the ballot varies from year to year. In more crowded years, candidates on the bubble tend to receive fewer votes, while in weaker years, voters often select borderline candidates more frequently. This year, the prospective class was particularly weak. I would have proudly submitted a blank ballot—and indeed, the 2026 ballot saw the highest number of blank ballots since 2011. Yet, only 11 of the 425 voters chose zero candidates. Evidently, voters hesitate to be overly selective.

But I will say about the Hall of Fame what I previously said about the MVP award: it is not a participation trophy. Carelessly handing baseball’s highest honor to undeserving players dulls the shine of the award itself.

Still, a number of talented players on this year’s ballot were undeserving for reasons beyond their statistics. The Hall directly asks voters to consider players’ “integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team” when evaluating their candidacy. This “character clause” doomed several 2026 candidates who would have otherwise been shoo-ins.

Manny Ramírez and Álex Rodríguez were suspended during their careers for taking performance-enhancing drugs. Andy Pettitte admitted to the same misdeeds, although he escaped suspension. Omar Vizquel has been accused of sexual harassment and domestic violence, allegations he has denied. None of these players have been elected.

Given the Hall of Fame’s many constraints, it is easy to forget its most basic threshold: being truly excellent—not just good—at baseball.

The Hall’s committees offer what has too often become a workaround to that requirement: a second chance on the ballot. To be more accurate, an 11th chance. Or a 12th. Or a 13th. Or 14th. Keep counting—I won’t stop you.

In the world of Hall of Fame voting, “no” is not a final answer.

Since 2001, every player (except those on MLB’s ineligible list, like Pete Rose) with 10 years of MLB experience who “has not been active in the previous 20 years” is eligible for reconsideration by the committee after failing to get elected by the BBWAA.

Of the 281 players honored in the Hall, 118 have been elected by the Eras Committee. Unfortunately, this committee has been responsible for admitting many players with some of the Hall’s most lackluster resumes.

Contemporary-era inductees such as Bill Mazeroski (42.3%), Red Schoendienst (42.6%), and perhaps most egregiously Harold Baines (6.1%) all failed to reach anywhere near the required 75% on the main ballot.

In what appears to be an attempt to course-correct, the Hall has recently decided that, contrary to the wise advice of *Mean Girls*’ Cady Heron, the limit does exist. Starting in March 2025, players may only appear on a committee ballot three times.

Three chances are noticeably fewer than infinity, so the new rule will hopefully create some much-needed guardrails against the Hall’s overinclusiveness. But the Hall has already opened its doors too wide, and closing them will be significantly harder.

Now, whenever a good-but-not-excellent player appears on the ballot, fans will point to history. My misguided Philadelphia Phillies-fan editor, for one, would surely argue that if Baines is in the Hall, voters must let in Philadelphia’s paradigmatic “Hall of Very Good” power-hitting second baseman Chase Utley.

The problem is, he would not necessarily be wrong. Utley amassed 64.6 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) to Baines’ 38.8, according to Baseball Reference—and he did so in almost 1,000 fewer games. Utley was better than Baines, with little room for debate.

My opinion is that neither is deserving of baseball’s highest honor. But Baines cannot be uninducted.

The bar has already been lowered, and raising it to an appropriate level would be unfair to modern-era players. Pandora’s box, once opened, might never be closed.
https://thehoya.com/sports/out-of-left-field-cooperstown-stopped-saying-no-opened-pandoras-box/

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