COOPERSTOWN, N,Y. — Dick Allen and Tommy John, who both starred for the Chicago White Sox during their careers, are among eight men on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s classic era committee that meets Dec. 8 at the winter meetings in Dallas.
Dave Parker, Steve Garvey, Luis Tiant and Ken Boyer are also on the ballot along with former Negro Leaguers John Donaldson and Vic Harris, the Hall said Monday. The classic era committee considers players, managers, umpires and executives whose greatest contributions to the sport were before 1980.
The identities of the 16 voters will be announced closer to the meeting, and 75% of the vote is needed for election. Anyone chosen will be inducted into the Hall on July 27 along with players voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, whose balloting will be announced Jan. 21.
John, Parker and Garvey are the living candidates. Tiant died on Oct. 8 at age 83. Allen died in December 2020 at 78. Boyer — who also played parts of two seasons for the White Sox — died of cancer at age 51 in 1982.
Allen hit .292 with 351 home runs and 1,119 RBIs from 1963-77. A seven-time All-Star, he was voted the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year with the Philadelphia Phillies and the 1972 American League MVP with the White Sox.
John, 81, went 288-231 with a 3.34 ERA over 26 seasons from 1963-89 with six teams, most prominently the White Sox (1965-71), Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. The four-time All-Star was a pioneer patient in elbow ligament replacement surgery in 1974 by Dr. Frank Jobe. The procedure became known as Tommy John surgery.
Parker, 73, hit .290 with 339 homers and 1,493 RBIs from 1973-91, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the 1978 NL MVP, won the 1977 and ’78 NL batting titles and was a seven-time All-Star.
Garvey, 75, hit .294 with 272 homers and 1,308 RBIs from 1969-87, was the 1974 NL MVP and helped the Dodgers win the 1981 World Series. He played an NL-record 1,207 consecutive games at first base.
Tiant was a four-time 20-game winner for Cleveland and the Boston Red Sox and went 229-172 overall with a 3.30 ERA from 1964-82. He was a three-time All-Star and won two AL ERA titles.
Boyer was an 11-time All-Star who batted .287 with 282 homers and 1,141 RBIs from 1955-69. He was the 1964 NL MVP for the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.
Donaldson pitched in the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues for more than 30 years.
Harris played 18 seasons in the Negro Leagues, mostly as a Homestead Grays outfielder, and managed the team for 11 seasons, winning seven Negro National League pennants and the 1948 World Series.
The Hall in 2022 restructured its veterans committees for the third time in 12 years, setting up panels to consider the contemporary era from 1980 on as well as the classic era. The contemporary era has separate ballots for players and another for managers, executives and umpires.
Each committee meets every three years, starting with contemporary players in December 2022, when Fred McGriff was elected, and followed by contemporary managers, executives and umpires last December, when Jim Leyland was voted in. Contemporary players will be considered again in December 2025.
The ballot was picked by a historical overview committee that included Adrian Burgos of the University of Illinois, Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network, Steve Hirdt of Stats Perform, David O’Brien of The Athletic, BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and Mark Whicker of the Southern California News Group along with Jim Henneman (formerly of the Baltimore Sun), Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram) and Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle).
Allen received 11 votes from the 2014 golden era committee, falling one short of the 75% needed for election. Donaldson got eight votes from the 2021 early baseball era committee, which considered pre-1950 candidates.
Parker got seven votes, Garvey six and John three or fewer from the 2019 modern era committee, which considered candidates from 1970-87. Garvey, John, Parker and Tiant all received fewer than seven votes from the 2016 modern era committee.
Boyer and Pierce got fewer than three votes in 2014 and Garvey, John and Parker fewer than six from the 2013 expansion era committee. Boyer and Tiant received fewer than three from the 2011 golden era committee.
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Félix Hernández are among the players eligible for the BBWAA ballot for the first time in the upcoming vote. Holdovers include Billy Wagner, who was five votes shy last January.
