The Los Angeles Times Sports Hall of Fame announced its newest members on Tuesday, inducting five iconic figures whose careers helped define baseball in Southern California. Sandy Koufax, Vin Scully, Clayton Kershaw, Don Drysdale and Fernando Valenzuela each cleared the 75% vote barrier, receiving 94.7%, 89.1%, 79.7%, 78.9% and 75.2% of the 12,277 ballots cast.
A Hall of Fame reshaped
The vote totals reflect a blend of dominance and enduring popularity, with Koufax topping the list by a wide margin. Their selections underscore the Hall’s focus on retired players who have left a lasting imprint on the game, a requirement that all candidates must meet before appearing on the ballot.
The ceremony also highlighted the fate of ten contenders who fell short of the cutoff, including longtime managers Tommy Lasorda and pitcher Orel Hershiser, who will be barred from future ballots for a minimum of two years. Their exclusion illustrates the Hall’s effort to refresh the candidate pool while preserving the legacy of those already enshrined.
Voting remains open in other categories, and the newspaper plans to release the USC ballot in the coming weeks, promising further debates over who will join the ranks of baseball’s most celebrated figures.