Baseball Hall of Fame 2017 live stream: Time, TV schedule, and how to watch the announcement online

Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines among those who could get the call on Wednesday

Jan 18, 2017, 2:01 PM UTC

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2004 National Baseball Hall of Fame Weekend - Induction Ceremonies - July 25, 2004

The highest individual honor a baseball player can receive might be in store for a handful of players on Wednesday when the 2017 class of National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees are announced.

Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Trevor Hoffman are among the favorites who could get the call on Wednesday, along with newcomers Ivan Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero, both in their first year on the ballot.

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America voting results will be revealed on MLB Network, with coverage beginning at 3 p.m. ET. The announcement of the inductees is scheduled for 6 p.m., and will also be available online via MLB.com.

Players must receive 75 percent of the BBWAA vote for induction into Cooperstown. Bagwell is in his seventh year on the ballot, and his 71.6 percent tally last year was the highest vote total among those not inducted, falling 15 votes shy. Raines was close behind at 69.8 percent, and this year has an added sense of urgency because it’s the 10th and final time on the BBWAA ballot.

The good news for Raines is that he has already made large gains among ballots that have been made public. Thanks to tracking by Ryan Thibodaux, among the 238 ballots made public through Tuesday evening, Raines has already gained 29 votes from 2016, when he fell 23 votes shy of induction.

Longtime Padres closer Hoffman is in his second year on the ballot, after receiving a strong 67.3 percent of the vote in 2016.

Ivan Rodriguez, the 14-time All-Star, 13-time Gold Glove winner behind the plate, and 1999 American League MVP, has received the strongest support among first-timers on known ballots to date, getting 80.1 percent of the vote. Vladimir Guerrero, the 2004 AL MVP with 449 career home runs and nine All-Star teams, is close behind at 74.1 percent.

We will find out the inductees and the voting results later on Wednesday afternoon.

MLB Network will provide four hours of Hall of Fame coverage beginning at 3 p.m., with interviews of the inductees as well as analysis of the candidates.