For only the eighth time in history and the first time since 1996, the Baseball Writers Association of America decided no single player was eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In his first year on the ballot, longtime Houston Astro Craig Biggio was the closest to Cooperstown earning 68.2 of the required 75 percent of the vote to get in. Following him was former Tigers ace Jack Morris who earned who earned 67.7 percent of the vote in his 14th year on the ballot. Morris, who may be one of the more controversial non-selections at this point only has one more year of ballot eligibility. Rounding out the top three was Biggio’s longtime teammate Jeff Bagwell who earned 59.6 percent of the vote in his third year on the ballot.
| Name | Votes (Pct.) | Yrs on ballot |
|---|---|---|
| Craig Biggio | 388 (68.2%) | 1 |
| Jack Morris | 385 (67.7%) | 14 |
| Jeff Bagwell | 339 (59.6%) | 3 |
| Mike Piazza | 329 (57.8%) | 1 |
| Tim Raines | 297 (52.2%) | 6 |
| Lee Smith | 272 (47.8%) | 11 |
| Curt Schilling | 221 (38.8%) | 1 |
| Roger Clemens | 214 (37.6%) | 1 |
| Barry Bonds | 206 (36.2%) | 1 |
| Edgar Martinez | 204 (35.9%) | 4 |
| Alan Trammell | 191 (33.6%) | 12 |
| Larry Walker | 123 (21.6%) | 3 |
| Fred McGriff | 118 (20.7%) | 4 |
| Dale Murphy | 106 (18.6%) | 15 |
| Mark McGwire | 96 (16.9%) | 7 |
| Don Mattingly | 75 (13.2%) | 13 |
| Sammy Sosa | 71 (12.5%) | 1 |
| Rafael Palmeiro | 50 (8.8%) | 3 |
| Bernie Williams | 19 (3.3%) | 2 |
| Kenny Lofton | 18 (3.2%) | 1 |
| Sandy Alomar Jr. | 16 (2.8%) | 1 |
| Julio Franco | 6 (1.1%) | 1 |
| David Wells | 5 (0.9%) | 1 |
| Steve Finley | 4 (0.7%) | 1 |
| Shawn Green | 2 (0.4%) | 1 |
| Aaron Sele | 1 (0.2%) | 1 |
| Jeff Cirillo | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Royce Clayton | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Jeff Conine | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Roberto Hernandez | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Ryan Klesko | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Jose Mesa | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Reggie Sanders | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Mike Stanton | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Todd Walker | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Rondell White | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Woody Williams | 0 (0%) | 1 |
Aside from the Jack Morris debate, the 2013 non selection is highlighted by the addition of prominent steroid era players in Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa who at a time were thought to been sure-fire first ballot hall of famers. All three players as well as Curt Schilling who was always outspoken and kind of crazy during the course of his career (he was never really linked to steroids, he just played in the era) received a very underwhelming percentage of the vote with Sosa receiving 12.5 percent, Bonds 36.2 percent, Clemens 37.6 percent and Schilling 38.8 percent. Meanwhile other prominent figures during the steroid era such as Mark McGuire has received just 16.9 percent of the vote in seven years of eligibility while Rafael Palmeiro has received just 8.8 percent in three years of eligibility.
With zero players getting in, it certainly looks as though the writers are taking some sort of a stand against the steroid era players especially when it comes to Bonds and Clemens. The arguments against those two players as well as McGuire, Sosa and Palmeiro are for the most part very understandable and in a way very debatable as well.
However the long drawn out process that entails getting into the Hall of Fame is very perplexing and in a way hypocritical.
You would think in most cases that you’re either a Hall of Fame player or you’re not. 14 years going on 15 for Jack Morris is way too long considering I thought he should of been in a long-time ago. And if he was to make it next season on his final shot what kind of substance does his induction have?
This is going to be another problem for the steroid era players as well.
If Bonds, Clemens, McGuire, Palmeiro and/or Sosa end up making it in does their eventual induction mean the baseball world has forgiven them for their steroid use? Or at that particular time it doesn’t matter anymore?
It’s all of the aforementioned as well as guys like Aaron Sele or Shawn Green making on some writers ballots that’s making the election process much laughable.
h/t: BBWAA.com, CBS Sports