Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens among Hall of Fame’s Era Committee candidates
Two of baseball’s most controversial greats will once again have a chance to earn a spot in Cooperstown this winter. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are among the eight candidates for election as part of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball Era Committee player ballot, the Hall of Fame announced on Monday.
The other candidates are Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela.
Though most Hall of Famers are typically elected by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, the Hall of Fame also has three Era Committees that provide an avenue for other notable individuals to earn a spot in Cooperstown. The Contemporary Era players ballot covers players whose primary contributions came after 1980. The Contemporary Era ballot for managers, executives, and umpires covers non-players from that same time period, while the Classic Baseball ballot encompasses everyone whose primary contributions came prior to 1980.
To earn election, candidates must appear on at least 75% of the ballots cast. With 16 members on the committee, that means a candidate would need at least 12 votes. Voting will take place on December 7 at the MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida.
Bonds and Clemens figure to remain particularly polarizing candidates. While undoubtedly two of the greatest players in baseball history, their legacies have been tarnished due to their association with performance-enhancing drugs. Both players failed to earn the necessary support in 10 years on the writer’s ballot, and in their first appearance on the Contemporary Era ballot back in 2022, both earned fewer than four votes.
Mattingly (eight votes) and Murphy (six votes) were also considered during that last ballot, while Delgado, Kent, Sheffield, and Valenzuela are newcomers.
One of the most notable exclusions from the ballot is former Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans, who remains one of the Hall’s more curious omissions. Evans tallied 385 home runs, 2,446 hits, and a .370 on-base percentage over 20 MLB seasons and was an eight-time Gold Glove winner. However, he was often overshadowed both during and after his career by some of his higher-profile teammates.
Thanks to the increased prominence of advanced metrics, however, Evans’ candidacy has aged particularly well. His 67.2 career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranks 15th in MLB history among all right fielders and comes in just under the average (69.7) of the 30 Hall of Famers at the position. Every other eligible right fielder with at least 67 career WAR is already in the Hall of Fame, but Evans will now have to wait at least another three years when the Contemporary Era players ballot is up for consideration again.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/03/barry-bonds-roger-clemens-among-hall-of-fames-era-committee-candidates/
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