For the first time since 2013 and for the ninth time in its 85-year history, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America did not elect any candidates to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year (full voting results).
Right-handers Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens and outfielder Barry Bonds came closest to the necessary 75-percent voting threshold, with Schilling receiving 71.1 percent (16 votes shy of election) and Bonds and Clemens sitting pat at 61.8 percent and 61.6 percent, respectively (60.7 for Bonds and 61.0 percent for Clemens last year).
All three top vote-getters have controversy attached to their candidacies — steroid implications for Bonds and Clemens, character issues for Schilling. Whether future voting sessions open the doors for these three is to be determined, but — moral inadequacies aside — they do have history on their side.
Former Brooklyn Dodgers great and Mets skipper Gil Hodges is the only player in MLB history to receive over 50 percent of BBWAA votes in a single year and pass through the 15-or-10 year voting window without gaining induction.
The rest of this year’s ballot saw considerable gains made among the next wave of Hall hopefuls, as well as a shade of stagnancy for others.
Rockies standout Todd Helton (29.2 percent in 2020), former Mets closer Billy Wagner (31.7 percent), and third baseman Scott Rolen (35.3 percent) all saw their candidacies receive jolts in the arm, with Helton picking up 44.9 percent of the vote, Wagner jumping to 46.4 percent, and Rolen breaking 50 percent (52.9) for the first time.
Two more former Mets — Jeff Kent and Gary Sheffield — saw their induction hopes raised this year, as did former Mets killer Andruw Jones. Kent’s vote percentage increased from 27.5 percent to 32.4 and Sheffield’s total jumped from 30.5 to 40.6 percent. Jones saw a substantial gain, going from 19.4 percent last year to 33.9 percent in 2021.
Omar Vizquel‘s support dropped from 52.6 percent in 2020 to 49.1 percent this year, and Manny Ramirez stuck exactly where he finished last year’s tally — at 28.2 percent.
Players who didn’t receive the necessary five percent of votes to remain on the ballot are as follows: Aramis Ramirez, LaTroy Hawkins, Barry Zito, A.J. Burnett, Michael Cuddyer, Dan Haren, Nick Swisher, and Shane Victorino.
Despite no players being elected from the 2021 class, last year’s inductees — Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons, and Marvin Miller — will be celebrated this July in Cooperstown, along with the litany of baseball legends lost over the past 10 months.
