The class of 2024 has been announced for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and will feature 3 players, two of whom were able to make it in their first year of eligibility.
Joe Mauer, Adrian Beltre, and Todd Helton each received at least 75% of the vote from the 385 member panel of the voting committee, with Mauer and Beltre becoming first ballot Hall of Famers. Helton, 50, was in his sixth year of eligibility after nearly receiving enough votes back in 2023.
95.1% of the BBWAA members who voted included Beltre on their ballot, followed by Helton at 79.7% and Mauer at 76.1%. The three batters will be joined by longtime manager Jim Leyland who was voted in by the Contemporary Baseball Era Non-Players Committee back in December. As is tradition, the induction ceremony will take place in Cooperstown, New York, on July 21st.
“I always wanted to be the best I could be, and I enjoyed playing the game, and I wanted to play hard, and with that came accumulating some stuff that put me in a position to be where I’m at today,” Beltre said on a call with reporters following news of his induction. “But I just loved the position, loved to play the game, and I was just happy to be out there, competing with my peers.”
Meanwhile, Mauer told MLB Network on their broadcast “I don’t take this announcement lightly… Just seeing the graphic of the two catchers on the first ballot, they’re two of my favourites. I admired those guys and look up to those guys and got to compete against Pudge for years there in Detroit. Just have the utmost respect for the Hall of Fame and the players that went ahead of me and have done great things. I’m just so kind of all over the place with emotions but can’t wait to get there and show my kids some of the history of this game. This beautiful game.”
In his final year of eligibility, 9x All-Star Gary Sheffield received only 63.9% support, meaning he will need one of the Hall’s specially chosen committees to select him if he wishes to see his plaque in Cooperstown. Former closer Billy Wagner fell just 5 votes short, but will have a final year of eligibility remaining in 2025.
Here are the full results of the 2024 BBWAA vote:
| Name | Votes | Percent | Year on ballot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adrián Beltré | 366 | 95.1 | 1st |
| Todd Helton | 307 | 79.7 | 6th |
| Joe Mauer | 293 | 76.1 | 1st |
| Billy Wagner | 284 | 73.8 | 9th |
| Gary Sheffield | 246 | 63.9 | 10th |
| Andruw Jones | 237 | 61.6 | 7th |
| Carlos Beltran | 220 | 57.1 | 2nd |
| Alex Rodriguez | 134 | 34.8 | 3rd |
| Manny Ramirez | 125 | 32.5 | 8th |
| Chase Utley | 111 | 28.8 | 1st |
| Omar Vizquel | 68 | 17.7 | 7th |
| Bobby Abreu | 57 | 14.8 | 5th |
| Jimmy Rollins | 57 | 14.8 | 3rd |
| Andy Pettitte | 52 | 13.5 | 6th |
| Mark Buehrle | 32 | 8.3 | 4th |
| Francisco Rodriguez | 30 | 7.8 | 2nd |
| Torii Hunter | 28 | 7.3 | 4th |
| David Wright | 24 | 6.2 | 1st |
| José Bautista | 6 | 1.6 | 1st |
| Victor Martinez | 6 | 1.6 | 1st |
| Bartolo Colon | 5 | 1.3 | 1st |
| Matt Holliday | 4 | 1 | 1st |
| Adrián González | 3 | 0.8 | 1st |
| Brandon Phillips | 1 | 0.3 | 1st |
| José Reyes | 0 | 0 | 1st |
| James Shields | 0 | 0 | 1st |
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.