2026 BBWAA HOF Ballot

In a bit of a surprise, the Contemporary Era Committee selected Jeff Kent to the Hall of Fame last month. He will join the likes of Rogers Hornsby, Nellie Fox, Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg, Jackie Robinson, and other MVP second baseman to earn enshrinement (Jose Altuve will join this list in the future, though another player on this year’s writers’ ballot is a long shot.) Dale Murphy, Carlos Delgado, and Don Mattingly all received more than six votes, and the rest of the candidates received fewer than five, meaning they are ineligible to be on the next ballot in three years. For Clemens, Bonds, and Sheffield, that result was not too surprising given their alleged PED use.

This coming Tuesday, January 20th, the results from the BBWAA ballot will be revealed, and we will find out who will join Jeff Kent in Cooperstown this year. Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones appear to be in strong position for election this year. Chase Utley and Felix Hernández are the big climbers, and Cole Hamels looks to haver a strong debut on the ballot. We will break down the candidacies (or lack thereof) for the newcomers to the ballot, as well as our predictions for who, if any, will make it this year.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

Howie Kendrick’s Clutch Homers - WJFK Eats Radio - Dave Jageler and Charlie Slowes

Alex Gordon’s WS HR - FOX - Hall of Fame Joe Buck, Tom Verducci

Edwin Encarnacion’s Walk-off - TBS - Ernie Johnson

As always, shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

Contemporary Era Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

With Winter Meetings under way in Orlando, it’s once again time to talk about the Hall of Fame. Eight players are on the ballot for Contemporary Era: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, and Fernando Valenzuela. Results of the committee vote will be released Sunday 12/7 at 7:30 pm ET. In this episode, we will discuss the cases for each of these worthy candidate. We’ll explain who we’d personally vote for, and then try to predict who, if anybody, will be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Audio clips from MLB.com

Valenzuela’s CG in ’81 WS - ABC Howard Cosell and Al Michaels

Valenzuela’s No-hitter in ’90 - LAD Vin Scully

Murphy’s 300th Homer - Turner

Mattingly’s ALDS in ’95 - ESPN Gary Thorne

Delgado’s 4 HR day - TOR

Kent’s NLCS Walk-off - HOU Milo Hamilton

Sheffield’s 500th HR - SNY Gary Cohen

As always, shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

World Series Game Seven

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Toronto Blue Jays

The best FOUR words in sports, WORLD SERIES GAME SEVEN. The Dodgers survived in game six thanks to another spectacular Yoshinobu Yamamoto performance and a clutch breakout from Mookie Betts. For the first time since 2019, the Fall Classic will come down to a decisive game seven. It has been an incredible series so far, with historic and record setting performances on both sides. Vlad Guerrero, Jr. and Ernie Clement could set the all time single season playoff hits record, Louie Garland could set a record for games pitched, and if this game is close at the end, we could be in for things we’ve never seen before.

Starting for the Blue Jays will be the man who started the last World Series game seven, Max Scherzer. At 41 years old, Mad Max will be the oldest pitcher to start a winner-take-all game, and he becomes just the fourth pitcher to start multiple World Series game sevens (Bob Gibson, Don Larsen, and Lew Burdette). Going on short rest will be Shohei Ohtani, but expect all hands on deck for both squads, as there is no tomorrow. And by all hands, that will mean nearly every starting pitcher from both teams, including Yamamoto on no rest. Tune in for what may be the greatest game seven every played.

Toronto Radio SN590 - Ben Shulman and Chris Leroux

Los Angeles Radio AM570 - Stephen Nelson and Rick Monday

FOX On Field - Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci, Kevin Burkhardt

Audio clips from MLB.tv

As always, thank you to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.