Six of the eight players under consideration for the Class of 2026 played American Legion Baseball.
Six of the eight players on this year’s Contemporary Baseball Era ballot for the 2026 National Baseball Hall of Fame class played American Legion Baseball.
Barry Bonds, who played Legion Baseball in San Mateo, Calif.; Roger Clemens (Spring Woods, Texas); Jeff Kent (Bellflower, Calif.); Don Mattingly (Evansville (Ind.) Post 8); Dale Murphy (Portland (Ore.) Post 52); and Gary Sheffield (Tampa (Fla.) Post 248) are under consideration by the Hall of Fame’s Eras Committee. They’re joined on the ballot by Carlos Delgado and Fernando Valenzuela.
The Eras Committee considers potential Hall of Famers who fell short of induction during the period when they were eligible for the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) ballot. For the 2026 class, the committee is considering players whose primary contributions to baseball came since 1980. The committee will look at managers, executives and umpires from the contemporary era for the Class of 2027, and the classic baseball era (before 1980, including Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues stars) for the Class of 2028.
Candidates must receive votes on 12 of the 16 ballots cast by the committee to earn induction. Eras Committee voting results will be announced on MLB Network at 7:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 7. BBWAA voting results will be announced in January, and the Class of 2026 will be inducted in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 26, 2026.
A look at the Legion Baseball alumni on the Contemporary Era ballot:
Barry Bonds. Bonds leads the majors in career home runs (762) and single-season homers (73, in 2001), and is also the all-time leader with 2,558 walks and seven MVP awards. But allegations of steroid use have kept Bonds out of the Hall of Fame.
Roger Clemens. Like Bonds, Clemens’ career stats should have made him a Hall of Fame lock. He had a record seven Cy Young Awards and retired with 4,672 strikeouts, third most in history. But Clemens also faced allegations of steroid use, although neither he nor Bonds ever tested positive.
Jeff Kent. No second baseman hit more home runs over his career than the 377 Kent hit. He also finished second at the position with a .500 slugging percentage and third withb 1,518 RBIs.
Don Mattingly. The Yankee legend won an MVP Award, a batting title and earned six All-Star Game selections during his 14 seasons in New York. As a manager, he led the Dodgers to three division titles and was the National League Manager of the Year in 2020 with Miami.
Dale Murphy. In 18 major league seasons, mostly with the Braves, Murphy won five Gold Glove Awards, four Silver Slugger Awards and was selected to the All-Star Game seven times.
Gary Sheffield. Over the course of his 22-year career, Sheffield hit 509 home runs and had 1,676 RBIs.
A total of 89 American Legion Baseball alumni have been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame—most recently CC Sabathia (Vallejo (Calif.) Post 550) and the late Dick Allen (Wampum (Pa.) Post 749) in 2025.
Legion Baseball alumni in the Hall of Fame
Bob Feller (Adel/Des Moines, Iowa; 1962)
Ted Williams (San Diego, Calif.; 1966)
Joe Medwick (Carteret, N.J.; 1968)
Stan Musial (Donora, Pa.; 1969)
Roy Campanella (Post 366, Philadelphia, Pa.; 1969)
Lou Boudreau (Harvey, Ill.; 1970)
Yogi Berra (Post 245, St. Louis, Mo.; 1972)
Early Wynn (Hartford, Ala.; 1972)
Warren Spahn (Buffalo, N.Y.; 1973)
Ralph Kiner (Alhambra, Calif.; 1975)
Robin Roberts (Springfield, Ill.; 1976)
Bob Lemon (Long Beach, Calif.; 1976)
Eddie Mathews (Santa Barbara, Calif.; 1978)
Al Kaline (Baltimore, Md.; 1980)
Bob Gibson (Omaha, Neb.; 1981)
Frank Robinson (Post 237, Pleasanton, Calif.; 1982)
George Kell (Swifton, Ark.; 1983)
Brooks Robinson (Post 1, North Little Rock, Ark.; 1983)
Don Drysdale (Van Nuys, Calif.; 1984)
Harmon Killebrew (Payette, Idaho; 1984)
Pee Wee Reese (Louisville, Ky.; 1984)
Hoyt Wilhelm (Davidson-Mecklenburg County, N.C.; 1985)
Bobby Doerr (Post 162, Los Angeles, Calif.; 1986)
Catfish Hunter (Post 102, Ahsokie, N.C.; 1987)
Willie Stargell (Alameda, Calif.; 1988)
Johnny Bench (Anadarko, Okla.; 1989)
Carl Yastrzemski (Bridgehampton, N.Y.; 1989)
Joe Morgan (Post 471, Oakland, Calif.; 1990)
Jim Palmer (Scottsdale, Ariz.; 1990)
Gaylord Perry (Williamston, N.C.; 1991)
Rollie Fingers (Post 73, Upland, Calif.; 1992)
Hal Newhouser (Detroit, Mich.; 1992)
Tom Seaver (Fresno, Calif.; 1992)
Reggie Jackson (Cheltenham, Pa.; 1993)
Steve Carlton (Miami, Fla.; 1994)
Richie Ashburn (Tilden, Neb.; 1995)
Jim Bunning (Cincinnati, Ohio; 1996)
Earl Weaver (St. Louis, Mo.; 1996)
Phil Niekro (Bridgeport, Ohio; 1997)
Nellie Fox (St. Thomas, Pa.; 1997)
George Brett (El Segundo, Calif.; 1999)
Robin Yount (Los Angeles, Calif.; 1999)
Sparky Anderson (Post 715, Los Angeles, Calif.; 2000)
Carlton Fisk (Claremont, N.H./Post 37, Bellows Falls, Vt.; 2000)
Dave Winfield (Post 606, St. Paul, Minn.; 2001)
Gary Carter (Fullerton, Calif.; 2003)
Eddie Murray (Los Angeles, Calif.; 2003)
Paul Molitor (Post 606, St. Paul, Minn.; 2004)
Ryne Sandberg (Spokane, Wash.; 2005)
Wade Boggs (Tampa, Fla.; 2005)
Bruce Sutter (Mount Joy, Pa.; 2006)
Tony Gwynn (Post 27, Long Beach, Calif.; 2007)
Dick Williams (Pasadena, Calif.; 2008)
Joe Gordon (Portland, Ore.; 2009)
Jim Rice (Anderson, S.C.; 2009)
Whitey Herzog (New Athens, Ill.; 2010)
Doug Harvey (San Diego, Calif.; 2010)
Roberto Alomar (Post Salinas, Puerto Rico; 2011)
Bert Blyleven (Garden Grove, Calif.; 2011)
Pat Gillick (Chico, Calif.; 2011)
Ron Santo (Seattle, Wash.; 2012)
Barry Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio; 2012)
Bobby Cox (Selma, Calif.; 2014)
Tom Glavine (Billerica, Mass.; 2014)
Tony LaRussa (West Tampa, Fla.; 2014)
Greg Maddux (Post 8, Las Vegas, Nev.; 2014)
Joe Torre (Brooklyn, N.Y.; 2014)
Mike Piazza (Phoenixville, Pa.; 2016)
Jeff Bagwell (Post 75, Middletown, Conn.; 2017)
Tim Raines (Post 53, Sanford, Fla.; 2017)
Iván Rodríguez (Post Vega Baja, Puerto Rico; 2017)
John Schuerholz (Baltimore, Md.; 2017)
Trevor Hoffman (Anaheim, Calif.; 2018)
Chipper Jones (Post 6, Deland, Fla.; 2018)
Jack Morris (Post 406, St. Paul, Minn.; 2018)
Jim Thome (Post 979, Bartonville, Ill.; 2018)
Alan Trammell (San Diego, Calif.; 2018)
Harold Baines (Post 60, Talbot, Md.; 2019)
Roy Halladay (Post 178, Lakewood, Colo.; 2019)
Mike Mussina (Post 104, Montoursville, Pa.; 2019)
Lee Smith (Natchitoches, La.; 2019)
Ted Simmons (Southfield, Mich.; 2020)
Gil Hodges (Post 25, Princeton, Ind.; 2022)
Fred McGriff (Post 248, Tampa, Fla.; 2023)
Scott Rolen (Post 147, Jasper, Ind.; 2023)
Jim Leyland (Post 183, Pemberville, Ohio; 2024)
Joe Mauer (Post 606, St. Paul, Minn.; 2024)
Dick Allen (Post 749, Wampum, Pa.; 2025)
CC Sabathia (Post 550, Vallejo, Calif.; 2025)
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