Elections to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for 2011 proceeded according to the rules revised in July 2010. As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players. The new Expansion Era Committee, which replaced the Veterans Committee, convened in December 2010 to select from an Expansion Era ballot of long-retired players and non-playing personnel who made their greatest contributions to the sport from 1973 to the present time, called the "Expansion Era" by the Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame induction class of 2011 consisted of players Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven, elected by the BBWAA, and executive Pat Gillick, elected by the Committee, who formally entered the Hall on July 24, 2011, at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

For the first time, the Hall of Fame extended its induction festivities over a weekend. On the day before the main induction ceremony, the Hall of Fame hosted the first Hall of Fame Awards Presentation. Two annual awards for media excellence, the Hall's own Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters and the BBWAA's J. G. Taylor Spink Award for writers, were presented at this ceremony. The irregularly presented Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award was also included in the ceremony. Previously, these awards were presented at the actual induction ceremony.

The BBWAA ballot was announced on November 29, 2010. The BBWAA was again authorized to elect players active in 1991 or later, but not after 2005; the ballot included candidates from the 2010 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 2005. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.

Results of the 2011 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 5, 2011. The writers' ballot consisted of 33 players–14 candidates returning from the 2010 ballot, plus 19 first-time candidates, the most since the 1991 ballot's 24 newcomers. Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate who received votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. Write-in votes were not permitted.

A record 581 ballots were cast (including five ballots which supported no candidates), with 436 votes required for election. A total of 3,474 individual votes were cast, an average of 5.98 per ballot. Any candidate who received votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be inducted. Those candidates who received less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Expansion Committee.

Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated with a dagger (†). The candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. The candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Dave Parker was on the ballot for the 15th and final time.