Is has begun. The 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame voting has started and ballots are getting filled out. Members of the Baseball Writers Association of America will work hard to put together the new class of inductees.
As has become customary with members of the BBWAA filling out ballots, baseball analyst Ryan Thibodaux is collecting ballots to give current tallies on how the voting is breaking down. It’s a fun thing for fans to check in on.
And we now have the first ballot.
Detroit News writer Lynn G. Henning submitted his ballot of six players.
Who will make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020? @Lynn_Henning gives us the six on his ballot. https://t.co/IhlpjQtcdl pic.twitter.com/C1xcYzXXzU
— Detroit News Sports (@detnews_sports) November 20, 2019
Who did Lynn Henning vote for on his ballot? He went with Derek Jeter, Curt Schilling, Larry Walker, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Scott Rolen.
Henning continued his support of Schilling, Walker, Bonds, and Clemens. This is the first year that Jeter is on the ballot and Henning immediately gave the former New York Yankees’ shortstop his vote.
As for Rolen, this is his third year on the ballot and Henning decided to give him a vote this time around.
Ballot #1 is from Lynn Henning. Scott Rolen gets the first gained vote of the 2020 cycle. Henning's column: https://t.co/Z0DCMx2EFq
In the Tracker: https://t.co/bp1RXBnrHI pic.twitter.com/NW1Jx0cFQa
— Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs) November 20, 2019
It’s a really big ballot this year, with a lot of players included in it that might not make the cut. In the image of the ballot above, provided by Ryan Thibodaux, players on the ballot for the first time are displayed in italics.
Any player who has played in 10 seasons of baseball gets their name on the ballot, even if they don’t necessarily have the stats to support induction. That’s what the voters are for.
Fun early results for 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame voting
Yes, it’s still very early in the voting process. Yes, it’s too early to guess which people are going to make the cut in the final vote. No, it’s never too early to start taking a look at the results.
With that in mind, it’s interesting that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens would make the cut if the voting ended today. The vote won’t end today, but Henning made a bold statement putting his ballot out so early.
He only went with six of a possible 10 players he could vote for, but he may have started some early trends in the process. Especially when it comes to voting for Scott Rolen.
Buckle up baseball fans, because it’s going to be a very interesting vote. A lot of names made the cut last year, clearing up some voting spots on a number of writers’ ballots. Could this be the year that Bonds and Clemens make it to the HOF? Stay tuned!