COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Hall of Fame players Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray, Tony Pérez, Lee Smith and Ozzie Smith are among 16 members of the classic era committee that will consider an eight-man Hall ballot that includes Dick Allen, Dave Parker and Luis Tiant.
Retired manager Joe Torre, also elected to the Hall, is on the committee that convenes Sunday at the winter meetings in Dallas. He will be joined by executives Sandy Alderson, Terry McGuirk, Dayton Moore, Arte Moreno and Brian Sabean; plus media members/historians Bob Elliott, Leslie Heaphy, Steve Hirdt, Dick Kaegel and Larry Lester, the hall said Monday.
The ballot also includes Tommy John, Steve Garvey and Ken Boyer along with former Negro Leaguers John Donaldson and Vic Harris. The classic era committee considers players, managers, umpires and executives whose greatest contributions to the sport were before 1980.
A vote of 75% or more is needed for election. Anyone chosen will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next July 27 along with players voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, whose balloting will be announced on Jan. 21.
Parker, John and Garvey are the living candidates. Tiant died on Oct. 8 at age 83.
Allen hit .292 with 351 homers and 1,119 RBI from 1963-77. A seven-time All-Star, he was voted the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1972 AL MVP.
Parker, 73, hit .290 with 339 homers and 1,493 RBI from 1973-91. He was the 1978 NL MVP, won the 1977 and ’78 NL batting titles and was a seven-time All-Star.
Tiant was a four-time 20-game winner who went 229-172 with a 3.30 ERA from 1964-82. He was a three-time All-Star who won two AL ERA titles.
John, 81, was 288-231 with a 3.34 ERA over 26 seasons from 1963-89, becoming a four-time All-Star. He was a pioneer patient in elbow ligament-replacement surgery in 1974 by Dr. Frank Jobe, which became known as Tommy John surgery.
Garvey, 75, hit .294 with 272 homers, 1,308 RBI from 1969-87, was the 1974 NL MVP and helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the 1981 title. He played an NL record 1,207 consecutive games at first base.
Boyer was an 11-time All-Star who batted .287 with 282 homers and 1,141 RBI from 1955-69. He was the 1964 NL MVP for the St. Louis Cardinals’ World Series champions.
Donaldson pitched in the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues for more than 30 years.
Harris played 18 seasons in the Negro Leagues, mostly as a Homestead Grays outfielder, and managed the team for 11 seasons, winning seven Negro National League pennants and the 1948 World Series.
The Hall in 2022 restructured its veterans committees for the third time in 12 years, setting up panels to consider the contemporary era from 1980 on as well as the classic era. The contemporary baseball era holds separate ballots for players and another for managers, executives and umpires.
Each committee meets every three years, starting with contemporary players in December 2022, when Fred McGriff was elected, and followed by contemporary managers, executives and umpires last December, when Jim Leyland was voted in. Contemporary players will be considered again in December 2025.
The ballot was picked by a historical overview committee that included Adrian Burgos of the University of Illinois, Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network, Hirdt of Stats Perform, David O’Brien of The Athletic, BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and Mark Whicker of the Southern California News Group along with Jim Henneman (formerly of The Sun in Baltimore), Jim Reeves (formerly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) and Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle).
Allen received 11 votes from the 2014 golden era committee, falling one short of the 75% needed for election. Donaldson got eight votes from the 2021 early baseball era committee, which considered pre-1950 candidates.
Parker got seven votes from the 2019 modern era committee, which considered candidates from 1970-87, Garvey six and John three or fewer. Garvey, John, Parker and Tiant all received fewer than seven votes from the 2016 modern era committee.
Boyer and Tiant got fewer than three in 2014, and Garvey, John and Parker fewer than six from the 2013 expansion era committee. Boyer and Tiant received fewer than three from the 2011 golden era committee.
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Félix Hernández are among the 14 players eligible for the BBWAA ballot for the first time in the upcoming vote. Holdovers include Billy Wagner, who was five votes shy last January.
