Baseball Hall of Fame voters issued a demonstrative rejection to Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa Wednesday, denying the trio who were embroiled in the sport’s steroids scandal entry into the hallowed Cooperstown, N.Y., shrine.
In fact, none of the eligible players for Hall of Fame consideration received the 75 percent of votes needed to get in, which has not happened since 1996.
Bonds won a record seven MVP Awards and hit more home runs than anyone in baseball history — he received just 36.2 percent of the vote. Clemens won a record seven Cy Young Awards, and an MVP, while surpassing 300 victories and 4,000 strikeouts — and he got just 37.6 of the votes. Sosa, who slugged 609 home runs and was reported by The New York Times to have tested positive for steroids in 2003, was named on just 12.5 percent of the ballots.
They were rejected by the voters who took to heart their strong connection to steroid use that plagued the game during their era.
The Hall of Fame will induct three new members in Cooperstown, N.Y., this summer, but all of them are deceased: the umpire Hank O’Day, owner Jacob Ruppert, and a catcher, Deacon White. All three died in the 1930s and were voted in by the veterans committee in December.
So, baseball will hold its annual Hall of Fame ceremony next July without a single living honoree on stage.
Craig Biggio, a star with the Houston Astros, received 388 votes and was named on 68.2 percent of the ballots cast. He was the highest vote-getter.
Every player on the ballot was active in the era before steroid testing, which began, with penalties, in 2004. Biggio, who fared well in his ballot debut and is likely to be inducted in the next few years, was never suspected of steroids use.
