ORLANDO, Fla. -- Hard-nosed to his core and one of the most prolific run producers the second-base position has ever seen, Jeff Kent spent years wondering if Cooperstown would take notice. On Sunday, the answer finally arrived. A slugger who defined what middle-infield offense could look like, Kent is now

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot for the 2026 Hall of Fame election was released on Monday, with 12 new names joining a group of 15 holdovers from the 2025 voting cycle. In both of the past two years, the BBWAA has elected three players, two of whom were

Since 2014, there have been 18 players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. Will anyone in this next class go straight from the ballot to the Hall? The BBWAA unveiled its 2026 Hall of Fame ballot on

Of the 28 players on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s 2025 Hall of Fame ballot, three wound up being inducted in Cooperstown in July: Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. That trio also represents the differing paths Hall of Famers take to get to that point. While Suzuki

The 2026 Baseball Writers' Association of America Hall of Fame ballot is here! There are 27 players on the ballot -- 15 returnees and 12 newcomers. Here are seven storylines to follow before the Class of 2026 is announced on Jan. 20, 2026 on MLB Network.

The Hall of Fame's 2026 Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) ballot has been revealed. Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones lead the way among returning players, while Cole Hamels figures to be at the front of the pack among first-year candidates. As we wait to see who enters Cooperstown as

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Rain threatened the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony, with the unfortunate possibility of the event being forced to a small, indoor venue. But thankfully, the weather and baseball gods didn’t let that happen to this large, diverse and historically significant class and

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- There he was, in the flesh, at the Otesaga Resort Hotel on the eve of his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Ichiro Suzuki himself. So strong is Ichiro’s aura that even two of the game’s all-time greats -- Mike Schmidt and Carlton Fisk --

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- CC Sabathia might be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t get here without a wait. First, there was the family car trouble -- hilariously chronicled on social media -- that delayed Sabathia’s arrival to this village that serves as baseball’s mecca. “It

Ahead of the 2016 season, we took our first attempt to identify the future Hall of Famers we would see playing in the Majors that year. It's now become an annual tradition at around this time. It’s been enough years now that some of those names are, indeed, in the

We know that Jeff Kent is going into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Who will join him? We won't find out for sure until Jan. 20, when the voting results from the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot are announced live on MLB Network at 6 p.m. ET.

Jan. 11, 1973, was a momentous day in baseball history. It was on that date that the American League voted to formally adopt the DH rule (Rule 5.11) for a three-year trial period. That rule would eventually become permanent in the AL, and the NL followed suit in 2022.

The responsibility as a first-time voter for the National Baseball Hall of Fame is obviously one I take seriously, and one that requires careful consideration of each candidate. Some were easy and others not so much, with nuance and generational context coming into play. I exercised seven of my 10

On Tuesday, Jan. 20, we will find out which former player or players have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, joining former second baseman Jeff Kent -- who was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee last month -- in

Is Andy Pettitte a Hall of Famer? For some, the answer is an immediate no, regardless of any evidence presented. And there are reasons why he hasn't garnered a lot of support on previous Baseball Hall of Fame ballots. Pettitte was consistently good but never otherworldly great during his 18-year

An elite lefty starter. A strikeout machine. A postseason hero. Cole Hamels is all of the above. Will he be a Hall of Famer, too? After a 15-year career with the Phillies, Rangers, Cubs and Braves, Hamels is on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time for

Félix Hernández is back on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The talented right-hander received 20.6% of the vote for the Class of 2025, his debut year on the BBWAA ballot, and he has a long way to go to reach the 75% threshold for induction. Now in

NEW YORK -- As the guy who literally wrote the book on David Wright, the most pertinent question of my first Hall of Fame ballot was always going to be whether I would vote for him. It wasn’t an easy one to answer, requiring some real reflection. Wright’s case is

NEW YORK -- It is both an honor and a responsibility to cast a vote for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. As my first ballot makes its way through the United States Postal Service, I don’t take that lightly. To me, the Plaque Gallery in Cooperstown isn’t just a

I’ve been a follower -- and occasional critic -- of Hall of Fame voting and the process since I started covering baseball. That picked up when I joined the Tigers beat and realized that not only was Alan Trammell fighting an uphill battle to Cooperstown but Lou Whitaker was one

One year ago, the Hall of Fame conversation centered on three players: the near-unanimous Ichiro Suzuki, clear first-ballot choice CC Sabathia, and long-deferred Billy Wagner. The 2026 cycle is another matter. We’ve arrived at a page in the Cooperstown story without an obvious main character. Welcome to the “Comfort Plus”

Andruw Jones is in his ninth year on the Hall of Fame ballot, and he has a compelling case for election into Cooperstown. Jones’ defensive prowess in center field and power at the plate during his peak helped put him in the conversation with some of the best we’ve seen

When my Hall of Fame ballot arrives each year, there are typically a first-time candidate or two that stand out as no-brainer votes. Last year, it was Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia. In 2023, Adrian Beltre and Joe Mauer fell into that category for me. This year’s ballot didn’t have

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This is the first time I've had the honor of casting a Hall of Fame ballot. I thought the choices would be easy. But, well, they weren't. Going in, I knew for certain that four players would get my vote, and that a fifth was likely to get it. But