When baseball’s Hall of Fame announces its Class of 2025 on Tuesday, it will be a time to celebrate the careers of the sport’s elite.
The fact that only three or four players will be headed for induction into Cooperstown this summer should also be a reason for joy. Unfortunately, there will be plenty of discourse surrounding certain fan bases’ favorite players falling short of receiving at least 75% of the vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Those objections should be noteworthy for one reason: The National Baseball Hall of Fame is the elite of major-sports Halls of Fame. Better than football’s, better than basketball’s, better than hockey’s.
Now, I am not just saying that because baseball has been my favorite sport since I was able to pick up an oversized plastic bat and hit Wiffle balls around my yard growing up in Wisconsin, I am saying that because of the process in which the Hall of Famers are selected. And by that, I am only talking about the main ballot voted upon by BBWAA member, not the other committees looking to put in player bypassed by the writers or other individuals. (Yes, they are also Hall of Famers, but they all come with a caveat in my mind.)
The reason I say the baseball Hall of Fame is the best is because of the process. There is no minimum and no maximum for each year’s class. This year’s class figures to be similar to the 2024 group of Adrián Béltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer. In 2022 and 2023, only one player each of those years earned the honor (David Ortiz and Scott Rolen, respectively). That came after no one was elected in 2021, the first time that had happened since 2013, the first year performance-enhancing drug users Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens appeared on the ballot.
Baseball’s process is also the most public. Writers often make their ballots public and write columns on why they voted for — and didn’t vote for — certain players. It also also spawned a strong following for the social-media accounts run by Ryan Thibodaux and his Hall of Fame ballot-tracking website. Writers also tend to do deep dives on the players they are considering.
As I mention to people when defending my point of view, it says Hall of Fame, not Hall of Pretty Good. For sports, that means the elite of the elite. The BBWAA has had the responsibility to voting in members since the inaugural class in 1936 of Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner. Writers have voted in 139 of the 273 players in the Hall of Fame, which has a total of 346 members. Other non-BBWAA committees have also sent individuals to Cooperstown. Per Baseball Reference, there have been 23,370 players in MLB history. That means .59% of players have been elected by the BBWAA. A very high bar. That number almost doubles to a miniscule 1.17% when you include all players in Cooperstown.
In 2024, there were 385 ballots submitted, meaning 289 ballots were required to reach the 75% threshold. Conversely, football has only 50 voters ultimately deciding who is a Hall of Famer, while basketball has 24 and hockey 18. The processes for getting there are as different as the sports, which is what I want to get into.
Here is what I found when researching the processes for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
(There are some special circumstances allowed, but this is the baseline.)
Eligibility
Baseball
Players must be retired five calendar years and played in 10 or more seasons.
Football
Players must be retired at least five years, coaches for at least one season (reduced for 2025 after previously being five), contributors at any time and seniors retired at least 25 years. Fans can also nominate players by writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Qualifications for nominees include players having been named to an All-Pro team, received a Pro Bowl invitation or received an annual award from The Associated Press, as examples.
Basketball
Players must be retired at least four years, coaches retired at least four years or, if active, coached at least 25 seasons, referees retired at least four years or, if active, officiated at least 25 seasons, contributors at any time and veterans retired for at least 35 years.
Hockey
Players must not have played in the previous three seasons, a builder at any time, on-ice officials must not have officiated an NHL or international game in the previous three seasons.
Process before final voting
Baseball
None.
Football
Separate 11-member committees screen candidates for the modern era and seniors classes. Committees are comprised of Hall of Fame enshrinees, former NFL front-office personnel, football historians and media members. None can be on the main selection committee.
The modern-era selection committee has 50 members, with each of the 32 teams represented by an active media member. A 33rd member represents the Pro Football Writers Association. There are up to 17 at-large members.
Modern-era nominees are whittled down to 50 players named in October, 25 semifinalists are named in November and 15 finalists in December. From other committees, finalists include three seniors, one coach and one contributor. New for 2025 are separate coach and contributor selection committees that can put forth one finalist. The coach and contributor committees are comprised of members of the 50-person overall selection committee.
Basketball
There are six committees: North American (nine members), women’s (seven), international (seven), veterans (seven), contributors (unknown number of members), early African-American pioneers (unknown number of members). Ten North Americans (receiving at least seven votes) and five from the women’s and international panels (two receiving at least five votes in each group) are moved forward. The contributors and early African-American pioneers can direct-elect one member (other committees can include individuals not being elected from these two).
Hockey
Each of the 18-member of the selection committee can nominate one from each of the three categories (but not required to). There is also an option for the public to make nominations, but that must be supported by a selection committee member. Names of candidates are kept confidential. The selection committee’s 18 individuals serve rotating three-year terms, meaning one-third of the committee is new each year.
Final voting
Baseball
Voters can select up to 10 names. Those receiving at least 75% of the vote are elected. Players can remain on the ballot for 10 years. If a player fails to receive 5% of the vote, they are permanently dropped from the BBWAA ballot. Writers can consider anything about the player when voting.
Football
Committee members can only consider an individual’s career, nothing else (i.e. off-field incidents). Bios are provided. At least three modern-era players but no more than five are to be elected. Players must receive 80% support from the 50 voters, which means 40 votes. The other five finalists (three seniors, one coach, one contributor) are voted on together, with at least one and no more than three. In total, at least four individuals and no more than eight are elected.
Basketball
Nominees advance to an Honors Committee, which is made up of 12 members plus 12 rotating specialists (women, international, etc.). Nominees must receive at least 18 votes to be elected (75%). This round appears to be a mere formality. From there, the Hall’s board of trustees vets those elected for anyone who has “damaged the integrity of the game.”
Hockey
A maximum of four male and two female players, one on-ice official, two builders (reduced to one if an on-ice official is elected) can be elected. Balloting is conducted in rounds, first of players, then on-ice officials and finally builders. All votes by members of the selection committee are private. Successful candidates must receive at least 75% of the vote. In each round, if the maximum number is reached, voting concludes in that category. If no one receives a vote, balloting is over.
Other ways
The baseball Hall of Fame is the only one with an alternative path to enshrinement that is completely separate from the primary process. This is done through an Eras Committee that is split into three: classic (everyone pre-1980, including the Negro Leagues), contemporary players (since 1980) and contemporary contributors (managers, executives and umpires since 1980). Each of those subcommittees rotate voting each year. This year’s class will include Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were selected by the contemporary players. Next year will be the contemporary contributors, followed by the classic.
Conclusion
Now for some of the inside stuff regarding those processes. We all pretty much know everything about the baseball process, so I am going to touch on the others.
Football is the most communal as a writer stands up and pitches the room on the player they are representing. I would imagine it is a secret ballot — I doubt that voting is done by raising hands, although not totally out of the question — and considering the modern-era field is just 15 names, coming up with three to five selections doesn’t seem that difficult. I have one problem and one question with this process. The problem is mandating the selection of three players. What if it is a down year? You still need to elect three. The question is regarding the maximum. What if it is a stacked year and have more than five superstar nominees? How does that get trimmed down?
Hockey is perhaps the next best to baseball regarding process. The issue I have, as mentioned with football, is capping the number of Hall of Famers.
Basketball is the most diverse Hall of Fame as it not only encompasses U.S. pro leagues, it dips down to the college level and also crosses over into the international game. Regardless, basketball is also the most controversial of the four for its process. There seems to be a lot of politicking that transpires. There are a handful of examples, including Ken Anderson, the men’s coach at NCAA Division III University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, having the third-highest winning percentage in history (.806) and not being a Hall of Famer. But this one is more puzzling: Leo Ferris and Danny Biasone are co-credited with creating the 24-second shot clock, with Ferris often getting more acclaim. Biasone is in the Hall of Fame, while Ferris is not. Ferris has been nominated nine times, including in 2024. The pair worked together with the Syracuse Nationals of the National Basketball League. Biasone was the owner and Ferris the general manager. Ferris also might have been an originator of the halftime show as he would get celebrities to perform at Nationals games. But he isn’t in the Hall of Fame — yet. The pair should have gone in together.
Anyways, it takes more for a baseball player to get into the Hall of Fame. Not only do baseball players have twice as many games a season as NBA and NHL players do and roughly 10 times more than NFL players, they also have more people scrutinizing their careers when voting on the Hall of Fame. You can say what you want about the writers who vote, but very few if any skimp on this process — most are very detailed. Especially with the advent of additional metrics to analyze and compare players from other generations, it is very rare, if ever, that a player who is deserving of selection doesn’t get in.
After all, it is the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Very Good.