Mark Buehrle is on the 2021 Hall of Fame ballot

The 2021 Hall of Fame ballot was announced today, and it includes a future White Sox Hall-of-Famer:

@NotMrTibbs/BBHOF Tracker

Several other (fringe) White Sox join Buehrle on the ballot: Andruw Jones, Manny Ramírez, Sammy Sosa, Nick Swisher and Omar Vizquel.

The 2021 class is considered “weak” because there isn’t a single first-ballot Hall-of-Famer among the newbies. But perhaps that helps the Hall clear out some of the backlog of worthy honorees — our own Brett Ballantini, who is geeky enough to track these things, says there are 13 worthy candidates up this year.

It’s a safe bet that Curt Schilling, a consummate case of having to separate the player from the man, makes the Hall this year; he polled north of 70% last go-round, a signifier of almost-certain future election. Vizquel, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens all might get tantalizingly close in this vote, as well.

Buehrle, as least per Brett, is a worthy Hall of Fame case, but certainly one of those guys who is faced with a steep climb toward immortality. But there’s an off-chance, with some of the ballot clog clearing out, that Buerhle takes one of those Tim-Raines routes into Cooperstown and finally makes it on a ninth or 10th ballot.

We’ll host our full round of three (Class of 2021, White Sox and Veterans) Hall of Fame elections here at South Side Sox, beginning next month.