Two New Hall of Famers Elected Into Cooperstown

Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Classic Baseball Era Ballot announcement kicked off this week’s Baseball Winter meetings. Being inducted into the Class of 2025 are right fielder Dave Parker and the late first baseman/third baseman/left fielder Dick Allen. Parker was named on 14 of 16 ballots and Allen on 13 of 16 ballots. They were the only candidates to reach the 75-percent threshold necessary for election. Allen and Parker will join any electees who emerge from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voting, which will be announced on Tuesday, January 21 at 6 PM ET on the MLB Network.

Dick Allen played 15 seasons from 1963-77 for the Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, White Sox and Athletics. He spent nine seasons with the Phillies. During his career, he compiled 351 home runs, 1,119 RBI and a .292 career average. He was named the 1972 AL Most Valuable Player and the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year, with seven career All-Star selections.

Aside from the Hall of Fame Standards, all the other scores have been pointing towards a Hall of Fame election for quite some time. It’s not an understatement to say how long overdue he was for induction. Allen’s JAWS score places him as the 17th best third baseman: 58.7 career WAR | 45.9 7yr-peak WAR | 52.3 JAWS | 5.4 WAR/16

Dave Parker compiled a .290 career average over 19 major league seasons with six teams, including 11 years in Pittsburgh and four years in Cincinnati, and amassed 339 home runs, 1,493 RBI and two batting titles (1977-78). The 1978 NL Most Valuable Player was named to seven All-Star games and won three Gold Glove Awards in right field. He was a key player for both the Pirates World Series champions in 1979 and the Athletics World Series winners 10 years later

Like Allen, Parker’s scores were pointing in a similar direction. His Hall of Fame Standards are a bit shy of the average Hall of Famer but he’s equal to or above for everything else. His JAWS score ranks 42nd among right fielders: 40.1 career WAR | 37.4 7yr-peak WAR | 38.8 JAWS | 2.6 WAR/162

It will be interesting to see how the Hall of Fame decides to classify Allen as far as the roster by positions. He played nearly 600 complete games as both a first baseman and third baseman. However, he played more time at first base in the long-term.

With seven votes, Tommy John was the closest candidate among those falling short of 75%. Candidates receiving five votes or less on this year’s Classic Baseball Era ballot are Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Vic Harris, and Luis Tiant. Tiant recently passed away.

The 16-member committee voting on the Classic Baseball Era Ballot consisted of Hall of Fame members Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray, Tony Pérez, Lee Smith, Ozzie Smith and Joe Torre; major league executives Sandy Alderson, Terry McGuirk, Dayton Moore, Arte Moreno and Brian Sabean; and veteran media members/historians Bob Elliott, Leslie Heaphy, Steve Hirdt, Dick Kaegel and Larry Lester. Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark served as the non-voting chairman of the Classic Baseball Era Committee.

The Classic Baseball Era Committee will next consider players, managers, executives and umpires in 2027 for the 2028 Induction year, as part of the three-year era committee cycle. The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Players Ballot will be considered in the winter of 2025 for the Class of 2026; and the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Managers/Executives/Umpires Ballot will be considered in the winter of 2026 for the Class of 2027. The Contemporary Baseball Era Committees consider candidates whose primary contribution to the game came from 1980 through the present. Committees are annually scheduled to convene at the Winter Meetings.

Hall of Fame Weekend will take place July 25-28, 2025 in Cooperstown, N.Y. The Induction Ceremony is scheduled for July 27. The Awards Ceremony is scheduled for July 26, honoring the winners of the 2025 BBWAA Career Excellence Award winner (announced December 10 and the 2025 Ford C. Frick Award winner (announced December 11).