PANAMANIAN  baseball pitcher Mariano Rivera, the closer who has saved more games in the history of the big leagues, and the slugger Miguel Tejada appear for the first time in the list of candidates for the Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States.

[caption id="attachment_91042" align="alignleft" width="300"] Rivera[/caption]

They are two of the 20 players to be considered for the first time. The list also includes Edgar Martínez and 14 other ex-players who were considered but did not gather the necessary votes.

The late Roy Halladay, left-hander Andy Pettite and infielders Todd Helton and Michael Young will also be considered for the first time, the Baseball Reporters Association of the United States announced on Monday.

Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, whose images were tainted by the alleged use of steroids, appear on the ballot for the seventh time. Clemens has been adding votes over the years but did not exceed 57.3% in the last vote. Bonds received 56.4%

Martinez came closer by harvesting 70.4%, missing only 20 votes. Mike Mussina received 63.5%.

Rivera played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball, all with the Yankees, and retired in 2013 with 652 games saved. In addition, he has the post-season rescues record with 42.

The announcement of the result of the vote, by baseball writers, will be revealed on January 22. The induction is scheduled for the end of July.