Hall Pass Denied — or Finally Granted?

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The Short Hop

🧢 Hall Pass Denied — or Finally Granted?

Hall of Fame ballots are out — 27 names this year.
The ones to watch: Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones.
Both flirting with 75%, both stuck in that gray zone where the writers get squeamish.

And yes, Alex Rodriguez is still hanging around — he pulled 37% last year.
Could the lack of surefire Hall guys actually help A-Rod sneak up?
Maybe. But that PED cloud still hangs over everything he accomplished.

Results drop January 20, 2026, but the debate? That starts now.

⚾️ Enter the Committee

While the writers hem and haw, another Hall of Fame crew is preparing to take their swings — the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.
This group is focused on players from the 1980s on — the ones who missed the baseball writers cut.

Sixteen members, a mix of Hall of Famers, execs, and veteran media voices.

They’ll vote on eight names:
Bonds 🧢 Clemens ⚾️ Delgado 🧢 Kent 💪 Mattingly ⚾️ Murphy 🧢 Sheffield 💣 Fernando ⚾️

Yep — Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are on the ballot, hoping time and nostalgia have softened a few hearts.

Will they finally break through, or will their ties to baseball’s steroid era block them again?

💭 The Forgotten Greats

Looking down that list — Jeff Kent, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado, Fernando Valenzuela — all worthy.
But seriously, how did Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, MVPs and franchise cornerstones, spend decades on the outside looking in?
It’s ridiculous.

They’re absolutely Hall of Famers.
Sure, injuries trimmed their totals, but the body of work?
Hall-worthy. Full stop.

Come on… Harold Baines has a plaque.
Explain that one.

🕰️ Next Up

The Committee meets on December 7th, and if history tells us anything, somebody’s getting robbed again.

And just to make it more confusing, there’s another group waiting in the wings — the Classic Baseball Era Committee, focused on players before 1980.
They won’t meet again until 2027, but you can bet two names will come up: Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson.

But that’s a story for another day… and probably another round of Hall of Fame heartburn.

John Boxley
High N Tight

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