This coming Sunday could be life-changing for Gary Sheffield.
MLB’s Winter Meetings officially begin on Dec. 7 in Orlando, Florida. Sunday’s announcement by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on whether there will be any new members coming to Cooperstown, New York, in 2026 is the weekend’s top story.
A 16-member board selected by the Baseball Hall of Fame will be voting for this year’s Contemporary Era Committee candidates. The eight former players who made their MLB mark since 1980 will be judged by writers, historians, former players, and several Baseball Hall of Famers. Players on the ballot need to receive 12 votes or more for election. Any former player on the ballot that receives less than five votes, they would be ineligible for the Era Committee’s next three-year cycle. If the candidate should score fewer than five votes a second time, they would be permanently ineligible for future ballots.
Sheffield, a well-decorated, right-handed hitter for 22 seasons from 1988–2009 for eight clubs, is playing the waiting game. In 2024, Sheffield’s 10th and final opportunity to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America fell short of the 75 percent score requirement. Coming in at 63.9 percent, Sheffield, who smacked his 500th career home run with the New York Mets in 2009, fell 43 votes shy of crossing the Cooperstown winning line.
“My family wants it for me more than ever,” Sheffield told The Epoch Times on Tuesday from his home in Tampa, Florida. “The vote stays on my mind because people are reminding me of it. I'll be home on Sunday waiting. There are some things you can’t control, especially when you deserve the honor.”
During his playing days, Sheffield was consistently among the most feared hitters. A career .292 batting average, 2,689 hits, 250-plus stolen bases, six seasons where he was among the top ten players considered for MVP voting, add in his 509 round-trippers and there shouldn’t be much of a debate on Sheffield’s qualifications for Cooperstown.
On his 509 home runs, for a ballplayer just coming into his MLB rookie season today, it would take 17 seasons of reaching the 30-home run plateau to equal what Sheffield has recorded.
Being an integral part of the Florida Marlins’ 1997 World Series championship team is one of Sheffield’s proudest times of his career. When his Marlins’ manager Jim Leyland was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024, Sheffield was among the thousands in Cooperstown at the induction ceremonies. Other Hall of Famers in Cooperstown let Sheffield know what their positions were on his Hall of Fame worthiness.
“I was there (Cooperstown) to show my support for him,” Sheffield said of his former skipper. “When I was there, Joe Torre put his arms around me and said, ‘We got to get you in the Hall of Fame.’ When I was at last year’s induction ceremonies sitting with Dave Parker’s family, Todd Helton texted me while he was on the stage. (Helton) said I belong with the rest of the Hall of Famers. After the ceremonies, Helton came over to me and my wife and hugged us.”
So, what’s been keeping Sheffield from making an acceptance speech in Cooperstown?
A list compiled by federal investigators in 2003 for MLB of players who may have tested positive for steroids has Sheffield’s name among the suspects. Along with Sheffield, David Ortiz, Roberto Alomar, Adrian Beltre, and Todd Helton also were included on the list. All three have since been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The following season saw MLB announced a new drug policy in an effort to curtail performance enhancing drug use. While training with MLB’s All-Time Home Run King Barry Bonds during an off-season, Sheffield used a cream on a knee he was rehabilitating. The cream was administered to Sheffield by Bonds’ then personal trainer.
Ironically, in 2016, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, in quotes attributed to him in a USA Today story, stated that there were several false positive results in the testing survey, and that Ortiz’s name on the list of those who tested positive shouldn’t tarnish his accomplishments. The commissioner went on to say that any player appearing on the list didn’t necessarily test positive for performance enhancing drugs. Such sentiment from baseball’s highest ranking officer could then also cast doubt on Sheffield’s test results. With doubts of cheating wiped clean from Sheffield’s slate, a 75 percent vote grab surely should be gained this Sunday.
“Dave Winfield and Derek Jeter have been wonderful in their support for me to get into the Hall of Fame. I have a lot of people pulling for me. I'll be with my family on Sunday if the call comes,” Sheffield said.
The Baseball Hall of Fame vote will be announced live on MLB Network at 7:30 p.m. ET. Hall of Famers Jim Kaat, Ferguson Jenkins, Ozzie Smith, Juan Marichal, Alan Trammell, and Robin Yount are among the 16-member panel who will cast votes in Orlando.
