 National Baseball | |
|---|---|
| Hall of Fame and Museum | |
| New inductees | 0 |
| Total inductees | 333 |
| Induction date | September 8, 2021 |
Elections to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame for 2021 proceeded according to rules most recently amended in 2016. As in the past, theBaseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players. The results were announced on January 26, 2021, with no players receiving enough votes to be inducted.[1]
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, meetings of the Early Baseball committee and Golden Days committee—two of a group of four bodies generally referred to as theVeterans Committee—which were scheduled to consider players from the 1871–1949 and 1950–1969 eras, respectively, were postponed from December 2020 to December 2021.[2]
This was the first time since2013 that the BBWAA did not elect a player to the Hall of Fame, and the first time since1960 that no one was selected for induction to the Hall, either via the BBWAA or one of the Veterans Committees.[3]
Also due to the COVID-19 pandemic, four people elected to the Hall in 2020 balloting—Derek Jeter,Larry Walker,Ted Simmons, andMarvin Miller—who were originally scheduled to be inducted on July 26, 2020, were inducted during 2021 ceremonies.[4][5] The 2021 formal induction ceremonies inCooperstown, New York, were originally planned to be held indoors and without spectators on July 25, 2021,[6] then were moved to September 8, 2021.[7]
The list of players appearing on the ballot was released on November 16, 2020.[5] There were 14 players carried over from the prior year's ballot, who garnered at least 5% of the vote and were still eligible for election, and 11 players who appeared on the ballot for the first time, whose last major league appearance was in 2015 and were chosen by a screening committee. A player must receive at least 75% of the votes cast to be elected. A total of 2365 votes were cast for individual players, an average of 5.9 votes per ballot
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  This was the ninth ballot forCurt Schilling (left) and first ballot forTorii Hunter
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Players who met first-year eligibility requirements but werenot selected by the screening committee for inclusion on the ballot included:Jeremy Affeldt,Scott Baker,Jeff Baker,Grant Balfour,Clint Barmes,Joe Beimel,Rafael Betancourt,Willie Bloomquist,Alberto Callaspo,Bruce Chen,Randy Choate,Kevin Correia,Neal Cotts,David DeJesus,Chris Denorfia,Jeff Francis,Jason Frasor,Jonny Gomes,Kevin Gregg,Aaron Harang,Corey Hart,Reed Johnson,Dan Johnson,Gerald Laird,Adam LaRoche,Jason Marquis,David Murphy,Wil Nieves,Alex Rios,Wandy Rodriguez,Cody Ross,Skip Schumaker,Grady Sizemore,Rafael Soriano,Tim Stauffer,Dan Uggla,C. J. Wilson,Randy Wolf andDelmon Young.
TheJ. G. Taylor Spink Award has been awarded annually since 1962; it is named afterJ. G. Taylor Spink, publisher ofThe Sporting News from 1914 until his death in 1962, and first recipient of the award.[10] It recognizes "meritorious contributions to the field of baseball writing".[11] Past honorees includeRing Lardner,Grantland Rice,Damon Runyon, andShirley Povich.[11] The results of voting for the 2021 award were announced on December 8, 2020:[12]
In February 2021, the award was renamed as theBBWAA Career Excellence Award, after the BBWAA voted to remove Spink's name "due to Spink’s troubled history in supportingsegregated baseball."[15][16][17]
TheFord C. Frick Award has been presented annually to a preeminent baseball broadcaster since 1978. According to the Hall, the criteria adopted in July 2016 are "Commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting abilities, reverence within the game, popularity with fans, and recognition by peers." A new election cycle was established, rotating annually betweenCurrent Major League Markets (team-specific announcers) with the 2017 Frick Award;National Voices (broadcasters whose contributions were realized on a national level) with the 2018 Frick Award; andBroadcasting Beginnings (early team voices and pioneers of baseball broadcasting) with the 2019 Frick Award. Since this cycle repeats every three years, all finalists for the 2021 award wereNational Voices.[18]
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On December 9, 2020, sportscasterAl Michaels was named the 2021 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award.[19] Before working nationally, Michaels was an announcer for theCincinnati Reds andSan Francisco Giants in the 1970s.[19] Notable baseball events he called include the1986 American League Championship Series and1989 World Series.[19] The eight finalists for the award were:[19]
