2021 Major League Baseball season

The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on March 26. The regular season ended on September 27 and the postseason ended on October 30, with the New

York Yankees defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in a seven-game World Series to claim their 28th championship and their first since 2009.

The 91st Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 14 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

For the first time, team rosters were expanded from 25 players to 26, with September rosters set at 28 players.

## Hall of Fame balloting

### BBWAA election

The BBWAA election rules were largely identical to those that were in effect for the most recent elections. The most recent change to BBWAA voting rules, announced in 2015, tightened the qualifications for the BBWAA electorate. Beginning with the 2016 election, eligible voters must not only have 10 years of continuous BBWAA membership, but also be currently active members. When these changes were announced, the pool of eligible voters also included those who had held active status within the 10 years prior to the election. A BBWAA member who has not been active for more than 10 years can regain voting status by covering MLB in the year preceding the election. However, as of the 2020 balloting process, the BBWAA and Hall of Fame have apparently redefined "active membership" to remove the vote from anyone who did not cover MLB games for two years, instead of 10.

On November 20, 2020, the Hall of Fame released the list of players on the ballot. The ballot included two categories of players:

* Candidates from the 2020 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, as long as they first appeared on the BBWAA ballot no earlier than 2011.
* Selected individuals, chosen by a screening committee, whose last major league appearance was in 2015. The screening committee selected 18 such players.

Unofficial voting totals were tracked online.

A total of 400 ballots were cast, with 300 votes needed to reach the 75% threshold for election. A total of 2613 votes were cast for individual players, an average of 6.58 votes per ballot, a sharp decline from the year earlier. Derek Jeter fell one vote short of becoming the second player unanimously elected, a feat first (and to date, only) accomplished by Mariano Rivera, when elected in 2019. Larry Walker became the seventh player in the modern voting era (since 1966) to be elected in his final ballot, after Red Ruffing, Joe Medwick, Ralph Kiner, Jim Rice, Tim Raines, and Edgar Martínez.

### Golden Days Era Committee election

On July 23, 2016, the Hall of Fame announced changes to the Era Committee system. The system's timeframes were restructured to place a greater emphasis on the modern game, and to reduce the frequency at which individuals from the pre-1970 game (including Negro league baseball figures) will have their careers reviewed. Considering candidates whose greatest contributions occurred from 1950-1969, the Golden Days Era Committee met in 2020 as part of the elections for the next calendar year.

The Hall announced the 10 candidates for the Today's Game Era Committee ballot on November 5, 2020, with the committee scheduled to meet and vote at the 2020 winter meetings. Voting results were announced immediately after the committee meeting adjourned on December 9. The cutoff for election and induction remained the standard 75%, or 12 of 16 votes.

### Early Baseball Era Committee election

On July 23, 2016, the Hall of Fame announced changes to the Era Committee system. The system's timeframes were restructured to place a greater emphasis on the modern game, and to reduce the frequency at which individuals from the pre-1970 game (including Negro league baseball figures) will have their careers reviewed. Considering candidates whose greatest contributions occurred from before 1950, the Golden Days Era Committee met in 2020 as part of the elections for the next calendar year.

The Hall announced the 10 candidates for the Today's Game Era Committee ballot on November 5, 2020, with the committee scheduled to meet and vote at the 2020 winter meetings. Voting results were announced immediately after the committee meeting adjourned on December 9. The cutoff for election and induction remained the standard 75%, or 12 of 16 votes.