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Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens still have a chance to enter baseball’s hallowed hall.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame contemporary baseball era committee ballot will have holdovers in Bonds, Clemens, Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, while others off the regular ballot have joined them.
Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela will also be on the contemporary era committee ballot for the Class of 2026.
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Former New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens during the Old Timer’s Day Ceremony at Yankee Stadium. (Wendell Cruz/Imagn Images)
The committee, made up of 16 voters, will meet on Dec. 7 during the winter meetings in Orlando, Florida to determine who may be entering the Hall in Cooperstown. A 75% vote is required for election, and if someone reaches that minimum, they will be inducted on July 26, 2026.
The regular Baseball Writers’ Associate of America (BBWAA) vote will be announced on Jan. 20, 2026.
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In 2022, the Hall of Fame restructured its veterans committees with panels to consider the contemporary era, which is from 1980 until now, as well as the classic era. For the contemporary era, there are two separate ballots for players and managers, executives and umpires. Contemporary managers, executives and umpires will be considered in December 2026, while classic era candidates will be viewed in December 2027.
Each committee meets every three years, meaning the next contemporary era ballot review will be in December 2028.
When this era ballot was reviewed in December 2022, Fred McGriff was unanimously elected with all 16 votes. Mattingly received eight votes, while Curt Schilling, who was dropped this year from the ballot, received seven. Bonds and Clemens, as well as Rafael Palmeiro, who was dropped along with Schilling, had less than four votes.
San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds smiles before the game between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. (Bob Kupbens/Imagn Images)
Bonds, Clemens and Palmeiro are polarizing figures in the game, as the heights of their fame skyrocketed during baseball’s much-maligned steroids era. Bonds denied knowing using steroids, while Clemens had maintained he had never used them. Palmeiro is the same.
Sheffield also noted that he was unaware that he used performance-enhancing substances, which contained steroids, during training ahead of the 2002 season.
Bonds and Clemens would be shoo-ins for the Hall had their careers in MLB not been tainted by the accusations. Bonds and Clemens were both dropped from the BBWAA’s ballot in 2022 after the former received 66% of votes (260 of 394) and the latter secured 65.2% of votes (257). You also need 75% of votes to receive an induction into the Hall.
Bonds, of course, is still MLB’s home run king, having hit 762 over his career, while also holding the single-season home run record (73). He won seven NL MVP Awards, while also making 14 All-Star appearances.
Barry Bonds is introduced to the fans for the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame ceremonies at PNC Park. (Philip G. Pavely-USA Today Sports)
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Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, has the third-most strikeouts in league history with 4,672, only behind Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Randy Johnson (4,875).
It’s also worth noting that the December 2027 ballot will be the first chance that Pete Rose will be available for a vote after Commissioner Rob Manfred determined that his permanent suspension from MLB ended with his death in September 2024.
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