The ballot for the 2022 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame class was released Monday. The 30-player ballot is headlined by some huge names in their 10th and final year on the ballot — Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens — as well as notable newcomers, like Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz.
In order to gain enshrinement into the Hall of Fame, a player needs to be named on at least 75 percent of the turned-in ballots from eligible BBWAA members. In order to avoid falling off the ballot, a player needs to get at least five percent. Players are eligible to remain on the ballot a maximum of 10 annual voting cycles.
The results of the vote will be revealed on Jan. 25, 2022. There are 17 holdover candidates in addition to 13 newcomers on the ballot. Newcomers are players who spent at least 10 seasons in the majors, have been retired for five years and were chosen by the Hall of Fame to be added to the ballot.
The big-name newcomers would be A-Rod and Big Papi, trickling down to Jimmy Rollins and Mark Teixeira. Some other notable first-timers include Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy, Justin Morneau, Carl Crawford and Prince Fielder.
Here are the holdovers, listed with the percentage of the vote they received last year and their current year on the ballot (meaning 10th is their final chance).
2022 Hall of Fame ballot holdovers
| PLAYER | % BALLOTS IN 2021 | YEAR ON BALLOT |
|---|---|---|
| Curt Schilling | 71.1 | 10th |
| Barry Bonds | 61.8 | 10th |
| Roger Clemens | 61.6 | 10th |
| Scott Rolen | 52.9 | 5th |
| Omar Vizquel | 49.1 | 5th |
| Billy Wagner | 46.4 | 7th |
| Todd Helton | 44.9 | 4th |
| Gary Sheffield | 40.6 | 8th |
| Andruw Jones | 33.9 | 5th |
| Jeff Kent | 32.4 | 9th |
| Manny Ramirez | 28.2 | 6th |
| Sammy Sosa | 17.0 | 10th |
| Andy Pettitte | 13.7 | 4th |
| Mark Buehrle | 11.0 | 2nd |
| Torii Hunter | 9.5 | 2nd |
| Bobby Abreu | 8.7 | 3rd |
| Tim Hudson | 5.2 | 2nd |
2022 Hall of Fame ballot first-timers
- Carl Crawford
- Prince Fielder
- Ryan Howard
- Tim Lincecum
- Justin Morneau
- Joe Nathan
- David Ortiz
- Jonathan Papelbon
- Jake Peavy
- A.J. Pierzynski
- Jimmy Rollins
- Alex Rodriguez
- Mark Teixeira
The BBWAA class will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Cooperstown, New York on July 24, 2022. This class will be joined by any inductees from the Early Era and/or Golden Era committees.
We welcome your stories! Contact us at [email protected]!
Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
