On Monday at the MLB winter meetings in Nashville, the Hall of Fame will announce the results from the Pre-Integration Era Committee, a committee name that suggests just how long ago it was that anybody paid attention to the individuals on the ballot. The last time this committee voted was 2012 and it elected Deacon White, a barehanded catcher whose career began just a few years after the Civil War ended; an umpire; and an owner who helped keep the game segregated.
So the Hall of Fame voters and various committees are electing barehanded catchers but won't elect obviously qualified modern stars like Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling, Alan Trammell and Jeff Bagwell, let alone borderline Hall of Famers from the more recent past like Minnie Minoso and Luis Tiant.