As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players.

The results were announced on January 22, 2019,[1] with the BBWAA electing Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martínez, and Mike Mussina to the Hall of Fame.

Rivera became the first player to be unanimously elected, appearing on all 425 ballots; he broke Ken Griffey Jr.'s record of 99.32 percent (437 out of 440), set in 2016.

[2] The Today's Game Era Committee, one of four voting panels that since 2016 had taken over the role of the more broadly-defined Veterans Committee,[3][4] convened on December 9, 2018, to select from a ballot of retired players and non-playing personnel who made their greatest contributions to the sport after 1987,[4] with Lee Smith and Harold Baines elected by this body.

Players who were eligible for the first time in 2019 but were not on the ballot included Wilson Betemit, Henry Blanco, Tim Byrdak, Jamey Carroll, José Contreras, Jesse Crain, Ryan Dempster, Mark DeRosa, Matt Diaz, Octavio Dotel, Chad Durbin, Chad Gaudin, Édgar González, Mike Gonzalez, Jerry Hairston Jr., Ramón Hernández, Eric Hinske, Brandon Inge, César Izturis, Austin Kearns, Casey Kotchman, Mark Kotsay, Ryan Langerhans, Brandon Lyon, Corky Miller, Brett Myers, Laynce Nix, Ramón Ortiz, Cody Ransom, Jon Rauch, Chris Snyder, Yorvit Torrealba, Jake Westbrook, Ty Wigginton, and DeWayne Wise.

[4] Considering candidates whose greatest contributions occurred in 1988 and later, the Today's Game Era Committee met in 2018 as part of the elections for the next calendar year.

Note: Baines, Belle, Clark, Hershiser, Johnson, Piniella, and Steinbrenner were on the previous Today's Game Era Committee ballot in 2017.

"[12] Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated said, "I feel a bit for Baines, who earned the ultimate compliment only to be told he didn't remotely deserve it.

"[12] Sports Illustrated's John Tayler and Tom Verducci noted that Baines' candidacy was helped by several committee members – Pat Gillick, Tony La Russa, and Jerry Reinsdorf – who were connected to his teams.

According to the Hall, the new criteria for selection are "Commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting abilities, reverence within the game, popularity with fans, and recognition by peers."

He was most notable as forming one of MLB's first play-by-play teams in the 1930s alongside fellow Frick Award recipient Red Barber, and also as the lead announcer for the Mutual Broadcasting System's Game of the Day in the 1950s.