Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1977 followed the system in place since 1971. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected Ernie Banks. The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to consider executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. It selected three people: Al López, Amos Rusie, and Joe Sewell. The Negro League Committee also met in person and selected two players, Martín Dihigo and John Henry Lloyd. The Negro League Committee also decided to disband; it had elected nine players in seven years. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on August 8, 1977, with Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn presiding.

Ernest Banks, nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between 1953 and 1971. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.