Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds Unlikely To Earn Spots In Baseball Hall Of Fame
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Baseball Hall of Fame will announce its inductees for the class of 2021 on Tuesday evening. That class is expected to be a party of zero.
If that ends up being the case, then it will be another year without a call for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling.
The tireless work of Ryan Thibodeaux for Baseball Hall of Fame Tracker shows that in all of the ballots that have been made publicly available, no player has received the necessary 75 percent of the vote thus far.
With 191 ballots revealed/~48.2% known:
— Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs) January 26, 2021
No candidate >= 75%
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Schilling 74.869%
Bonds - 73.3%
Clemens - 72.8%
Rolen - 61.8%
Helton - 49.2%
Sheffield - 48.2%
Wagner - 46.1%
Vizquel - 40.8%
Jones - 38.7%
Manny - 34.6%
Kent - 32.5%
Sosa - 22.0%
Pettitte - 16.2%
Abreu - 11.5%
Based on the observed votes that have been made public, Schilling, Bonds and Clemens are all obviously close to the 75 percent threshold. Yet those who follow this on a yearly basis, a player's percentage typically drops once the ballots of those voters who kept their selections private are counted in the final tally.
If that trend holds, then no new players will be inducted in the class of 2021, something that last happened in 2013. (The Hall of Fame will still induct Derek Jeter and Larry Walker this year, after their induction was postponed in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.)
Schilling, Bonds and Clemens all have Hall-worthy resumes but remain out for different reasons. Schilling's strong political and controversial statements -- including an endorsement of a shirt that called for journalists to be lynched, as well as recent support for the riot at the U.S. Capitol -- have hurt him in the voting. In the case of Bonds and Clemens, it's association with performance-enhancing drugs that's kept them out thus far.
Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa -- who rank 15th and ninth on the all-time home run list, respectively -- remain miles away from 75 percent for the same reason.
It's significant for the trio of Schilling, Bonds and Clemens, though, as next year will mark their 10th and final year of eligibility for Hall of Fame votes.
UPDATE: As expected, nobody earned the 75 percent of the vote, so the class of 2021 will include zero players.