The Baseball Hall of Fame revealed its Contemporary Baseball Era ballot for 2026 on November 3. Each year, the Eras committee votes in former players, coaches, and umpires who were not voted in during their first chances on the ballot. The committee has three eras they rotate through: pre-1980, players post-1980, and managers/executives/umpires post-1980.
This year, they are voting on players post-1980. The ballot includes Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela. Players will need to receive 75% of the 16 votes to make the Hall of Fame.
While the ballot consists of many MLB Legends, it has once again left a Boston Red Sox Hall-of-Famer off, Dwight Evans. Dewey spent 19 of his 20 MLB seasons in Boston, spanning from 1972-90. He was named to three All-Star teams, won eight Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, and received MVP votes five times with two top-4 finishes. Evans was on the normal Hall of Fame ballot from 1997-99 when he fell below the 5% threshold to remain on the ballot for future seasons.
Evans ended his career with over 2400 hits, 483 doubles, 385 home runs, over 1300 RBIs, and a .272 batting average and .840 OPS. He has the 15th-highest bWAR by a right fielder all time — every player above him on the list is in Cooperstown or active. There are 13 players in the hall below him on the list.
The Dwight Evans snub continues. https://t.co/kr3B8PExh5
— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) November 3, 2025
Red Sox legend Dwight Evans left off Hall of Fame ballot for same players over and over again
Evans was statistically great during his career. He also won the most Gold Gloves in Red Sox history and is tied for the eighth most by an outfielder all time, at a time when the award was awarded to three outfielders regardless of position.
The ballot is decided by the 11-member Historical Overview Committee. Dale Murphy and Don Mattingly have been on the Era's committee ballot every year they have been eligible since 2017. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were both on the ballot in 2023. Evans has been on the ballot once, back in 2020, when he received eight votes.
Evans' chances of making it back to the ballot will increase after this year. Starting in 2025, the Hall of Fame announced that any candidate who doesn't receive five votes will not be eligible for the ballot in the next three-year cycle. Any player who does so twice will no longer receive consideration for the ballot. This will prevent the ballot from being clogged by the same players year after year.
It's a shame it has taken Dewey so long to be enshrined in Cooperstown. Though the Sox never won a ring during his tenure in Boston, he was a key player there for a long time. His career has been overshadowed by teammates who made the Hall, but even Jim Rice wasn't voted in until his final year on the ballot.
Evans is one of baseball's great right fielders. While his numbers may not pop off the page, he was consistently great for a long time. He deserves another shot to have a plaque in the gallery amongst the best to ever play the game.