The results of the 2018 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot will be announced exclusively on MLB Network, MLB.com and MLB's official Facebook page on Wednesday, January 24 live at 6:00 p.m. ET, part of a five-hour announcement show beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. As the home of the Hall of Fame election announcement since 2009, MLB Network's program will exclusively feature National Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson revealing the results, as well as the first interviews with the electees.
Anchored by Greg Amsinger and Brian Kenny, MLB Network's comprehensive Hall of Fame election coverage will feature 2018 Ford C. Frick Award winner Bob Costas, MLB Network analysts Mark DeRosa and Harold Reynolds, and Hall of Fame voters and MLB Network insiders Jon Heyman, Ken Rosenthal, Joel Sherman, Tom Verducci and 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Peter Gammons examining this year's 33 Hall of Fame candidates.
MLB Network's live pre-announcement show will open with an essay written by Verducci and narrated by 1991 Hall of Fame inductee Rod Carew, conveying what it's like to spend your life trying to make a team, and with one phone call you are on the greatest team of all - forever teammates with the very best. From 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET, MLB Network will premiere all-access interviews with first-year candidates Chipper Jones and MLB Network analyst Jim Thome, hosted by their former teammates Mark DeRosa and Sean Casey. The show will also include in-depth analysis on the enduring impact of returning candidates. DeRosa and Harold Reynolds will hold a hitters meeting to examine ninth-year candidate Edgar Martinez's career as a designated hitter, and current and former MLB players and managers including Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, Mike Scioscia and MLB Network analyst Carlos Peña will provide commentary in an in-depth profile of second-year candidate Vladimir Guerrero and his impact on today's current generation of players.
MLB Network's ongoing discussion and examination of the 2018 Hall of Fame ballot continues tonight with MLB Network Roundtable: Hall of Fame Debate at 9:00 p.m. ET. In the one-hour show, a panel including Ron Darling, Brian Kenny, Mike Lowell, Christopher Russo and Tom Verducci discuss the election chances for individual candidates on the ballot and how voting trends over the last four years could result in one of the largest Hall of Fame classes ever.                                                                        
MLB Network's previews and analysis of the 2018 Hall of Fame election announcement will be featured throughout its daily studio programming on January 24, beginning with Hot Stove co-hosted by Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds at 9:00 a.m. ET, High Heat with Christopher Russo at 1:00 p.m. ET, MLB Now hosted by Brian Kenny at 2:00 p.m. ET, and MLB Network's signature studio show, MLB Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET. On Thursday, January 25, the National Baseball Hall of Fame press conference with the electees in New York will be shown live at 3:00 p.m. ET on MLB Network, MLB.com and Facebook, followed by in-studio interviews with the electees at MLB Network later in the day.
The 2018 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on Sunday, July 29 and air exclusively on MLB Network and MLB.com.