While Mark McGwire failed to earn a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame over the summer, he and nine others will get a new opportunity in the Today's Game Era Committee voting.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported the group of 10 finalists on the ballot includes McGwire, former Commissioner Bud Selig and former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
Formerly known as the Veterans Committee, the newly established Eras Committees consider candidates from four different eras on a rotating basis. The Today's Game portion features those who made an impact from 1988 to 2016.
According to the Baseball Hall of Fame's website, participants from the most recent era will be up for consideration for induction in 2017 and 2019. The modern era (1970-1987) will be discussed for 2018 and 2020, while the golden days (1950-1969) and early baseball era (1871-1949) will be up for election in 2021.
In the meantime, this gives players who have fallen off the regular ballot another chance to be inducted, while executives will get a long look for the first time.
McGwire was on the regular ballot for the 10th and final time in 2016, earning just 12.3 percent of the vote, well short of the 75 percent required. The former St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics star hit 583 home runs, the 11th-most in MLB history.
Harold Baines, Orel Hershiser, Will Clark and Albert Belle are the other players attempting to get in through the committee voting, while Lou Piniella and Davey Johnson will hope to earn a spot as managers.
Among the off-field contributors, Selig oversaw the rise of baseball throughout the 1990s and 2000s, helping create the wild card and interleague play. Steinbrenner also played a major role as the owner of the Yankees. While he bought the club in 1973, he oversaw one of the greatest dynasties in baseball history from 1996 to 2000, featuring four World Series titles.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments