Baseball Hall of Fame

The Baseball Writers' Association of America will announce the 2015 MLB Hall of Fame class Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 2 p.m. ET, as this year's crop of candidates will look to follow up what was an impressive 2014 class.

John Smoltz, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling...or all of the above? It's a question Hall of Fame voters wrestled with this year (we'll find out what they concluded on Tuesday), and it's a damn tough one.

The chance for debate in Major League Baseball never ends. The individual awards were just handed out, and as if on cue, here comes the announcement for the 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot ready to provide the next topic sure to spark discussion and more than a little disagreement.

The 2015 MLB Hall of Fame ballot is set to officially be released Monday, and with it comes the start of this year's debate over who deserves to be immortalized in Cooperstown.

Among the newcomers to the ballot are a trio of pitchers who were among the best of their generation in Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz.

The first-timers will join 17 holdovers from last year's ballot, led by Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines, who all received at least 45 percent of the vote last year.

After years of only inducting a few players into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the 2014 class welcomes six more-than-deserving players and managers.

It seemed to be an Atlanta Braves year, as former pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, as well as former manager Bobby Cox, enter the Hall.

Watch as Dick Stockton and Ron Darling take us through this year's class and how it ranks among the greats.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Once a year, tiny Cooperstown, New York becomes the most important sports town in America.  

The transformation occurs when baseball's year class of historic greats is ceremoniously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, forever cementing their status as heroes and ambassadors of our national pastime.

This year's class is a truly remarkable one. It features two 300-game winners, a member of the 500-home run club and three managers with eight World Series rings between them.

The Baseball Writers' Association of America thought it was fixing a problem.

Instead, with one swift, sweeping act of judgement it revealed its true nature—the BBWAA, at its core, is nothing more than a frightened dictator.

By releasing a statement that Dan Le Batard would be banned for giving his vote to Deadspin, the BBWAA flaunted its power to show the baseball world that its word is final, to cast fear into the eyes of anyone who even thinks of rebelling against it.

What makes a Hall of Famer?

The National Baseball Hall of Fame is a sensitive and controversial topic, regardless of which player, era or concept is up for discussion. As the baseball community reacts to the 2014 induction list, one thing is certain: At some point, a designated hitter will be inducted into Cooperstown.

When that day arrives, former Seattle Mariners great Edgar Martinez should be the man to carry the torch into baseball's hallowed hallways. 

The Baseball Writers' Association of America will announce the 2014 MLB Hall of Fame class on Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET, as this year's class of candidates will look to join managers Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa and Bobby Cox in earning enshrinement.

A total of 19 newcomers join 17 holdovers from last year's ballot to make up this year's candidates, and after no one earned induction last year, we could see a number of players join the all-time greats in Cooperstown this time around.