Changes to Hall of Fame Eras Committees eligibility

[packs]

Originally Posted by jayshum

No, I'm just suggesting that inducting players that most people have never heard of or seen play because it's been over 100 years won't do much to increase attendance at the induction ceremony. Also, the ballot that was just voted on was made up of the 8 players selected for consideration from all players who played the significant portion of their career prior to 1980 which includes 19th century players. No 19th century players were selected to be on the ballot that was voted on. It doesn't mean they won't be in the future although it does seem unlikely because the emphasis appears to be to consider more recent players.

John Donaldson was voted on. He debuted in 1920 in the Negro Leagues. Vic Harris was also voted on. He was also voted on in 2022.

I don't really see a lot of indication that the committee has been directed to not consider long-dead players.

In 2022, the last time the Early committee selected players before merging for the 2025 vote, Buck O'Neill and Bud Fowler were elected. Minnie Minoso was also elected by the Golden Era committee, which also selected Gil Hodges.

They were all dead and did not attend the ceremony that year.