National Basketball Hall of Fame Announced Nominees for Contemporary Baseball Era Player Ballot

The time has come… it is time to recognize a new class and cement in stone the excellence and brilliance of former players of old. Since 1936, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America has held the exclusive voting privilege to consider retired players for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Therefore, on Monday the National Basketball Hall of Fame announced nominees for the Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot. The Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot features eight candidates for consideration in the Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

Which ball players made the ballot? Here is the official list:

Contemporary Baseball Era Player Ballot

Barry Bonds: Bonds played 22 seasons with the Pirates and Giants, winning seven National League MVP Awards and eight Gold Glove Awards in the outfield. MLB’s all-time home run leader with 762, Bonds also set single-season records for home runs (73 in 2001) and walks (232 in 2004).

Roger Clemons: A two-time World Series champion, Clemens pitched 24 seasons winning seven Cy Young Awards. Clemens was named the 1986 AL MVP and earned All-Star Game berths in 11 seasons.

Carlos Delgado: Two-time All Star and three-time Silver Slugger Award Winner; Delgado hit 473 home runs, including 11 straight seasons with at least 25 homers, during a 17-year career.

Ballot Nominees Continued

Jeff Kent: Five-time All Star, four-time Silver Slugger Winner; and the 2000 National League MVP, Kent played 17 seasons. Posting 12 seasons with at least 20 home runs and eight campaigns with at least 100 RBI. He hit 351 of his 377 home runs as a second baseman, the most ever at the position.

Don Mattingly: Nine-time Gold Glove Award Winner, three-time Silver Slugger; six All-Star Game Selections, and 1985 American League MVP; Mattingly played 14 big league seasons – all with the Yankees – and compiled a .307 batting average. He was also the 1984 AL batting champion, and during his manager tenure in the big leagues for 12 seasons and was named the 2020 National League Manager of the Year.

Dale Murphy: Five-time Gold Glove Award Winner, four-time Silver Slugger and seven-time All Star; Murphy earned back-to-back NL Most Valuable Player Awards with the Braves in 1982-83. During 18 seasons he led the league in home runs twice, RBI twice and slugging percentage twice while posting a 30 homer/30 steal season in 1983.

Gary Sheffield: 1992 NL Batting Champion, nine-time All Star, and five-time Silver Slugger Award Winner; Sheffield totaled 509 home runs and 1,676 RBI during 22 seasons. He also finished in the Top 10 of his league’s MVP voting six times. Moreover, Sheffield topped the 300 total base mark six times and drove in at least 100 runs eight times.

Fernando Valenzuela: Valenzuela is the first and to date the only pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards in the same season (1981). He went went 173-153 over 17 seasons and was a six-time All-Star and finished in the Top 5 of his league’s Cy Young Award four times.

National Basketball Hall of Fame Announced Nominees for Contemporary Baseball Era Player Ballot

The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee will meet to discuss and review the candidacies of the eight finalists as part of baseball’s Winter Meetings on Dec. 7 in Orlando, Fla.

Any electees from the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 26, 2026, along with any electees who emerge from the 2026 Baseball Writers’ Association of America election, to be announced on Jan. 20, 2026.

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