COOPERSTOWN, NY — The Baseball Writers’ Association of America has made a statement this year by not inducting anyone into the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame. ABC News reports that among the 37 names that were on the ballot for this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame Induction, were two names that should have been a shoe-in … baseball’s home run king Barry Bonds and legendary pitcher, Roger Clemens. Due to the steroid scandal though, not one player was admitted this year.
Neither player admitted it, but both were widely suspected of using steriods. Both faced perjury charges stemming form federal hearings about performance enhancing drugs.
Hall of fame president Jeff Idelson said, “The standards for earning election to the Hall of Fame have been very high ever since the rules were created in 1936. We realize the challenges voters are faced with in this era. The Hall of Fame has always entrusted the exclusive voting privilege to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. We remain pleased with their role in evaluating candidates based on the criteria we provide.”
According to the Baseball Hall of Fame website, this is the eighth election by the BBWAA that did not produce a Hall of Famer and the first since 1996. That year, the top three vote getters were Phil Niekro (68.3), Tony Perez (65.7) and Don Sutton (63.8). All were subsequently elected; Niekro in 1997, Sutton in 1998 and Perez in 2000. The other BBWAA elections without a winner were in 1945, 1946, 1950, 1958, 1960 and 1971.
USA Today wrote:
Jeff Bagwell [former Houston Astro’s first baseman] is outraged about the results of Wednesday’s Hall of Fame election, not over his exclusion but over former Houston Astros teammate Craig Biggio being left out.
“That’s ridiculous. That doesn’t make any sense. That’s a travesty,” Bagwell said, according to tweets by Mark Berman, sports director of Fox affiliate KRIV in Houston. “You’re talking about 3,000 hits and you don’t get in on the 1st ballot. That sucks. He deserves to be in right now.”
Craig Biggio, who totaled 3,060 hits and was a seven-time All-Star while playing three positions (catcher, second base, outfield), topped the ballot with 388 votes – 39 shy of the 427 needed for election. His total reflected 68.2 percent of the electorate, which consists of BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years of Major League Baseball coverage. Five blank ballots were among those submitted. Other players named on more than half the ballots were pitcher Jack Morris with 385 (67.7 percent), first baseman Jeff Bagwell with 339 (59.6), catcher Mike Piazza with 329 (57.8) and outfielder Tim Raines with 297 (52.2).
Other holdovers that will remain on the ballot in addition to Biggio, Morris, Bagwell, Piazza and Raines are first basemen Mark McGwire, Fred McGriff, Don Mattingly and Rafael Palmeiro; pitcher Lee Smith; shortstop Alan Trammell; designated hitter-third baseman Edgar Martinez and outfielder Larry Walker.
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