Boston Red Sox legend Luis Tiant is one step closer to getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. The late, great Tiant is among the seven players and one manager on the Classic Baseball Era Committee ballot,

Dick Allen, Dave Parker and Luis Tiant are among eight men on the ballot for the baseball Hall of Fame’s classic era committee that meets Dec. 8 at the winter meetings in Dallas.

The Hall of Fame’s Classic Baseball Era Committee considers players, managers, umpires and executives who made their greatest impact before 1980. That’s a huge swath of the sport’s history — more than a century — so simply reaching the ballot is an achievement.