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Lou Whitaker, Dwight Evans headline HOF's 2020 Modern Era ballot

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The National Baseball Hall of Fame revealed this year's Modern Baseball Era committee ballot Monday, with 10 candidates seeking induction as part of the Class of 2020.

Nine former players - Dwight Evans, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Thurman Munson, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons, and Lou Whitaker - headline this year's Modern Era ballot. The 10th name up for review is MLB Players Association founder Marvin Miller.

A 16-member committee will review and vote on the candidates, with the results being announced at MLB's winter meetings Dec. 8. As with the Hall's Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot, candidates require 75% of the vote - in this case, approval from 12 of the 16 committee members - to gain election.

The Hall of Fame's four era committees were brought in to replace the former Veterans Committee several years ago. Era committees are the path of entry to the Hall for players whose eligibility on the BBWAA ballot has expired, as well as managers, executives, and umpires.

The Modern Era committee elects candidates whose careers were largely completed between 1970 and 1987. It last voted two years ago and resulted in the inductions of Jack Morris and Alan Trammell.

Garvey, John, Mattingly, Miller, Murphy, Parker, and Simmons all appeared on the last Modern Era ballot. Simmons, one of the premier catchers of his era, came up one vote shy of induction while Miller, whose repeated candidacy and continued rejections have caused great controversy over the years, got seven votes.

The other four returning candidates all received fewer than seven votes in 2018.

Evans and Whitaker are making their first appearances on a committee ballot. Both Evans and Whitaker were dropped from the writers' ballot after receiving less than 5% of the vote in the 1999 and 2001 BBWAA elections, respectively.

Induction day for the entire Class of 2020, including those elected on the BBWAA ballot - which has yet to be announced - is scheduled for July 26 of next year.

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