The 2026 Contemporary Baseball Era Committee met yesterday, and they elected one new player to the Hall of Fame: Jeff Kent. I’m happy that Kent was elected, but I was a little surprised. I had incorrectly predicted that the Committee would elect Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy. Hopefully next time.
Kent was elected with 14 of the 16 votes of the committee; next was Carlos Delgado with 9 votes, falling 3 short of election. Mattingly and Murphy both got 6 votes each. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela all received fewer than 5 votes.
The Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee was comprised of: Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Pérez, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell and Robin Yount; MLB executives Mark Attanasio, Doug Melvin, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Tony Reagins and Terry Ryan; and media members/historians Steve Hirdt, Tyler Kepner and Jayson Stark.
I’m a little surprised that Delgado did so well; 9 votes is a great showing for his first appearance on an Era Committee ballot. I’d be fine with Delgado being elected to the Hall of Fame, but I don’t think there’s a burning need for him to be inducted.
I think everyone in my age bracket was hoping that Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy would be elected. There’s a lot of love for those two players, and it’s easy to understand why. They were two of the most iconic players of the 1980’s, and two players who played the game with honor and integrity.
I’m not surprised that Bonds and Clemens received fewer than 5 votes. I also see a lot of comments online that Bonds and Clemens should be in the Hall of Fame. I understand that, but I also understand why Bonds and Clemens aren’t in the Hall of Fame. Bonds and Clemens receiving fewer than 5 votes means that they will be left off of the ballot for the Class of 2029. And if they again receive fewer than 5 votes, they’ll be done as Hall of Fame candidates. I wonder if all of the recent rule changes to the Hall of Fame voting, limiting the number of years on the BBWAA ballot from 15 to 10, and now this change to the Era Committees has all been part of a plan to get the steroid guys done with so we’re not arguing about Bonds and Clemens for the next 100 years.
I’m also not surprised that Fernando Valenzuela received fewer than 5 votes. Honestly, he was lucky to be reconsidered by an Era Committee. Fernando was a fine pitcher for 6 years or so, but if we want that to be the standard for the Hall of Fame, we’re going to have to add a lot more pitchers.
Jeff Kent’s election is another example of the Era Committee doing the work of electing worthy candidates that the BBWAA has missed. I think the BBWAA does a pretty good job overall of electing worthy players, but the Era Committee has provided much needed oversight and elected excellent players that the writers somehow whiffed on. In January 2023, after Kent’s last year on the BBWAA ballot, I predicted that a committee in the future would correct this oversight.
It’s interesting to see the list of former players on the Era Committee. Kent’s career only overlapped with 3 of them: Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, and Robin Yount. Perhaps these shortstops realized how difficult it can be for middle infielders to gain entry to the Hall of Fame and supported Kent’s candidacy. It’s interesting to see Juan Marichal on the Committee—his career ended in 1975, when Jeff Kent was only 7 years old! Marichal’s career didn’t overlap with any of the players on this ballot. I wonder if the former players on the Committee were the ones who voted for Mattingly and Murphy? I would guess so, but of course I don’t know for sure. I’d love to be a fly on the wall during the Committee meetings and hear these Hall of Fame players debate the merits of these players’ cases.
We’ll see in January if any other players will be joining Jeff Kent in Cooperstown in the summer of 2026.
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