BBWAA announces 2014 Hall of Fame ballot

Tom Glavine is one of the top choices on the 2014 Hall of Fame ballot.

Today, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced the 2014 Hall of Fame ballot. The packed ballot is definitely one to be watched for; 36 players were nominated, including 18 newcomers to the ballot. I'll explain how the voting works, who is on it, how many years they've been on it, and the percentage of votes they received in 2013 (if applicable). 

The voting is pretty simple. Qualified BBWAA members around the country get a ballot in which they can choose from zero to ten names to vote for. Players who are named on 75% or more of the ballots are the next class of Hall of Famers. Each player remains on the Hall of Fame ballot for 15 years, unless they are inducted in, or receive less than 5% of the vote in any given year. In that case, the player is removed from the ballot. 

The Candidates:
Moises Alou - 1st year on ballot
Jeff Bagwell - 4th year on ballot, 59.6% of votes in 2013
Armando Benitez - 1st year
Craig Biggio - 2nd year, 68.2% votes in 2013
Barry Bonds - 2nd year, 36.2% votes in 2013
Sean Casey - 1st year
Roger Clemens - 2nd year, 37.6% votes in 2013
Ray Durham - 1st year
Eric Gagne - 1st year
Tom Glavine - 1st year
Luis Gonzalez - 1st year
Jacque Jones - 1st year
Todd Jones - 1st year
Jeff Kent - 1st year
Paul Lo Duca - 1st year
Greg Maddux - 1st year 
Edgar Martinez - 5th year, 35.9% votes in 2013
Don Mattingly - 14th year, 13.2% votes in 2013
Fred McGriff - 5th year, 20.7% votes in 2013
Mark McGuire - 8th year, 16.9% votes in 2013
Jack Morris* - 15th year, 67.7% votes in 2013
Mike Mussina - 1st year
Hideo Nomo - 1st year
Rafael Palmeiro - 4th year, 8.8% votes in 2013
Mike Piazza - 2nd year, 57.8% votes in 2013
Tim Raines - 7th year, 52.2% votes in 2013
Kenny Rogers - 1st year
Curt Schilling - 2nd year, 38.8% votes in 2013
Richie Sexton - 1st year
Lee Smith - 12th year, 47.8% votes in 2013
J.T. Snow - 1st year
Sammy Sosa - 2nd year, 12.5% votes in 2013
Frank Thomas - 1st year
Mike Timlin - 1st year
Alan Trammell - 13th year, 33.6% votes in 2013
Larry Walker - 4th year, 21.6% votes in 2013

*denotes last year on ballot

My (mock) Ballot:
Tom Glavine 
Greg Maddux 
Frank Thomas 
Craig Biggio 
Mike Mussina 
Curt Schilling
Jeff Bagwell
Jeff Kent

The voting results will be announced on January 8, 2014. The induction ceremony weekend is July 25-28, 2014 in Cooperstown, New York.