Five former Most Valuable Players are among eight Eras Committee choices on their Class of 2026 Hall of Fame ballot.
Five former MVPs who hold a dozen trophies collectively headline the Eras Committee ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.
Barry Bonds, who won the trophy a record seven times, is of eight former players chosen by the by the 11-person Historical Overview Committee, along with two-time MVP Dale Murphy and Don Mattingly, Jeff Kent, and Roger Clemens, each of whom won once.
Sluggers Gary Sheffield and Carlos Delgado, both perennial contenders for Most Valuable Player honors, are the other position players on the ballot.
Also included is the late left-hander Fernando Valenzuela, the only man to win a Cy Young and Rookie of the Year award in the same season.
To win election, candidates must receive at least 75 per cent of the vote, or 12 of the 16 votes from the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. Results of the voting will be announced Dec. 7 on MLB Network at 7:30 p.m. EST.Strong Resumes
All of the candidates have powerful resumes, though the multiple awards of the steroids-suspected Bonds and Clemens have been overlooked previously by both the Baseball Writers Association of America in the “regular” election and by the Eras Committee, a derivation of the former Veterans Committee.
Bonds, the single-season (73) and career (762) leader in home runs, split 22 seasons between the Pirates and Giants, winning eight Gold Gloves and two batting crowns while leading the National League in on-base percentage 10 times. He also had five 30/30 seasons.
Clemens played even longer, dividing his 24 campaigns among the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Astros.
