The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced several changes to the Era Committee elections on Friday morning that will impact future elections.
The Era Committees, of course, serve as an additional avenue for players, managers, and other personnel to gain entrance to Cooperstown. The Committees are separate entities from the more standard induction process, which involves voting done by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
The Era Committees will now be split into two timelines: the Contemporary Baseball Era (1980 onward) and the Classic Baseball Era (pre-1980). Additionally, the Contemporary Baseball Era will have a separate ballot for non-player types, such as managers, executives, and umpires.
Those three ballots will cycle through, with one being voted on per year. The announced order will see players from the Contemporary Era get voted on this winter; executives and other non-players next; and then players from the Classic Era pool the year after that. Each ballot will consist of eight individuals.
It should be noted that for a player to be eligible for the ballot, they will have to have been retired for 16 or more years. That means players who have exhausted their BBWAA ballot eligibility must wait an additional year before becoming eligible for the Contemporary Era ballot, and may have to wait even longer than that for induction based on the cycling schedule.
It should also be noted that the Era Committees -- specifically the Contemporary Era ballot for players -- is now the only route into the Hall of Fame for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and others who have fallen off the ballot.
"At a meeting in Orlando earlier this week, the Board of Directors held comprehensive conversations about a number of topics core to the Hall of Fame's mission," said Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, in a statement concerning the changes. "With these updates to the Era Committee process, we are upholding our commitment to the very high standard of excellence that has always been required for Hall of Fame election."
