Baseball Hall of Fame 2018 live stream: Announcement time, TV channel, and how to watch online

Chipper Jones and Jim Thome highlight the players on the ballot for the first time for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with the results of the Baseball Writers Association of America voting revealed on Wednesday (6 p.m. ET, MLB Network).

The announcement will be streamed online at MLB.com.

A checked box on 75 percent of BBWAA ballots is required for induction into Cooperstown, with players eligible five years after their careers ended. Ballots were due by Dec. 31, 2017.

Jones, the 1999 National League MVP whose 468 lifetime home runs are the third-most by a switch-hitter behind only Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray; and Thome, who hit 40 or more home runs six times in a 10-year span and whose 612 home runs rank eighth all time, are the headliners among first-timers on the 2018 ballot.

Among those returning to the ballot this year were former San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, who garnered 74 percent of the vote last year to fall just five votes shy of induction, and Vladimir Guerrero, the dynamic outfielder who earned 71.7 percent in his first year on the ballot.

The maximum a player can last on the BBWAA ballot is 10 years, which makes this a critical year for Edgar Martinez. The longtime Seattle Mariners designated hitter got 58.6 percent of the vote on the 2016 ballot, and through Tuesday afternoon received 77.9 percent of support on the 213 publicly available ballots tracked by Ryan Thibodoux. If Martinez doesn’t receive 75 percent of the vote on the 2018 ballot, next year will be his final year of Hall of Fame eligibility through the BBWAA.

The 2018 induction ceremony in Cooperstown while be held on Sunday, July 29, and is expected to be a busy weekend. In addition to former Detroit Tigers stars Alan Trammell and Jack Morris — who were voted into the Hall of Fame by the Modern Era committee in December — the BBWAA ballot could enshrine four, perhaps five more players this year.

Wednesday’s announcement is part of five hours of dedicated Hall of Fame coverage beginning at 3 p.m. ET on MLB Network, hosted by Greg Amsinger and Brian Kenny, plus interviews and thoughts from several analysts, including Cooperstown inductee Bob Costas, the 2018 Ford C. Frick Award recipient.

Chipper Jones played all 19 of his big league seasons with the Atlanta Braves, and talked to the Associated Press about his career:

“Man, it was a good marriage,” Jones said. “I was a big Dodgers fan growing up, but I never really thought about wanting to put on a Dodgers uniform. I never thought about playing in the big city lights of New York or wonder what it would be like to be a Yankee. I was a Brave.”

Edgar Martinez may or may not be elected to Cooperstown on Wednesday, but his rise in support from BBWAA voters has been remarkable, as chronicled by Larry Stone of The Seattle Times:

But that’s extraordinarily good news for Martinez, who just four years ago despaired of his chances to ever reach Cooperstown. His vote total plummeted from 35.9 percent to 25.2, and it seemed that Martinez’s unique package of statistical achievements was being irrevocably undermined by a crowded ballot as well as bias against designated hitters.

“Instead of moving in the right direction, it was moving backward,” Martinez said. “I didn’t have an expectation it was ever going to happen.”

Trevor Hoffman fell just five votes shy of induction last year, and plans to wait for Wednesday’s news with family, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune:

“You anticipate with cautious optimism that it’s similar to the last couple years,” Hoffman said, referencing the late upticks in voting percentages. “My mom’s not getting any younger. It’d be fun to have a small group of family around, if it does happen, to share it with those that have been a big part of this journey that I’ve been on.”