Dusty Baker included on National Baseball Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era ballot; Class of 2027 vote results set for Dec. 6

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Dusty Baker has been named to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball Era ballot, putting the Houston resident and longtime Major League manager among the candidates for election to Cooperstown as early as next year. The Hall’s election process for the Class of 2027 is set in motion by the announcement of the eight-person ballot released Monday, with a requirement of at least 75% of the vote for election.

Baker is the only manager in baseball history cited in the announcement as having taken five different teams to the playoffs. The ballot coverage notes that his managerial résumé culminated with a long-awaited World Series title with the Astros in 2022, after the team he joined as manager prior to the 2020 season won the Fall Classic during the 2022 campaign.

The Contemporary Baseball Era ballot also includes Sandy Alderson, Bruce Bochy, Joe Maddon, Lou Piniella, Brian Sabean, Ted Turner and Bill White. Together, they are described in the announcement as a mix of managers, executives and umpires credited with significant contributions to the game dating back to the late 20th century.

The election will be conducted by a 16-member panel made up of Hall of Fame players, Major League executives, media members and historians. Each of the eight candidates on the ballot will be considered by the panel, and a candidate must reach at least 75% of the vote to be elected to the Hall of Fame for the Class of 2027.

Results for the Class of 2027 ballot are scheduled to be announced Sunday, Dec. 6. Baker, 77, addressed his inclusion on the ballot in remarks delivered Wednesday, according to the MLB account of an appearance in Houston tied to his memoir, Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, hosted by CLASS Bookstore.

At that event, Baker said, “It’s not on my mind as much as other people put it on my mind,” adding that congratulatory messages still arrive from people who assume he has already been elected. He also referenced the level of competition on the ballot, stating, “There’s a lot of competition this year. This is a stacked ballot,” and emphasized that voters must reach the 75% threshold, warning that “somebody is going to be disappointed.”

The announcement places Baker’s candidacy in the context of his overall career as both a player and manager. It notes that Baker was a coach on the San Francisco coaching staff for five seasons, including a stint as the Giants’ hitting coach from 1989 to 1992, before being named Giants manager in 1993.

As Giants manager, the announcement says Baker guided San Francisco to a 103-59 record in his first season and earned NL Manager of the Year honors. The Hall of Fame-ballot coverage further states that he managed the Giants through the 2002 season, leading the club to playoff appearances in 1997, 2000 and 2002, and that San Francisco reached the World Series in 2002, losing to the Angels in seven games.

After his tenure with the Giants, the announcement says the Cubs hired Baker prior to the 2003 campaign, with Chicago coming one win shy of advancing to the World Series for the first time since 1945. Baker served as Cubs manager through 2006, the MLB description adds, before moving to Cincinnati to become the Reds’ manager in 2008.

The source states that Baker led the Reds to playoff appearances in 2010, 2012 and 2013. It also says Baker later managed the Nationals from 2016 to 2017, reaching the postseason in both years, before the Astros brought him aboard as manager before the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Baker’s managerial record with the Astros is central to the ballot narrative. The announcement says he finally won the elusive World Series title with Houston in 2022 and then retired following the 2023 season. It also credits him with compiling 2,183 regular-season wins over a 26-year managerial career, which the MLB source describes as the eighth-most total in history.

In addition to total wins, the announcement points to titles and pennant appearances as part of Baker’s legacy. It states that Baker won division titles with five different teams and led clubs to pennants in both leagues—citing the Giants in the National League in 2002 and the Astros in the American League in 2021 and 2022.

The MLB account also includes a personal anecdote about Baker’s earlier managerial experiences. It says former Giants general manager Al Rosen told Baker when he was hired that Baker was destined to be fired like most managers, and Baker responded in the event remarks with a laugh, saying, “I was actually fired once in Cincinnati and my contract expired the other times,” while describing the situation as “damn near the same thing.”

Baker’s comments in the same appearance reflect the balance between validation and uncertainty in the election cycle. He said, “In my mind, it shouldn’t have been five teams,” and tied his perspective to the expectations surrounding Manager of the Year awards, adding, “when you do a good job and you know when you don’t do a good job.”

From the standpoint of the Hall of Fame process, the immediate consequence of Baker’s inclusion is straightforward: the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot will now move through the 16-member panel review, with the formal threshold for election set at 75% and the Class of 2027 results due Sunday, Dec. 6. Until that date, Baker and the other six candidates on the ballot remain in the same election pool, awaiting the panel’s vote.

With Baker’s career overview laid out by the league-recognized nomination list, the election remains a matter of panel selection. The next public update for readers will come on Dec. 6 when the Hall’s Class of 2027 vote results are announced, determining whether Baker joins the Hall of Fame in his role as a manager and mentor whose postseason résumés are highlighted in the ballot materials.