photo by Tim Evearitt
The most highly debated election for entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame ended Wednesday without a new inductee.
For the first time since 1996, eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) did not vote in a single player from a ballot of 37 candidates that was deep and controversial.
As all Baseball Hall of Fame votes are conducted, a candidate needed to be named on at least 75 percent of the ballots to be elected. BBWAA members with 10 consecutive years or more of covering the sport were eligible to vote and they could name as many as 10 players on their ballots. So long as they maintain at least five percent of the ballots cast, players have 15 years on the ballot before they are no longer eligible to be elected by the BBWAA.
The 2013 ballot was loaded with a number of first-time-eligible players whose careers spanned a period of Major League Baseball that some believe was clouded by the use of performance-enhancing drugs:
• Barry Bonds, the all-time home run leader with 762.
• Roger Clemens, a storied right-hander with 354 wins.
• Craig Biggio, a second baseman with 3,060 hits.
• Sammy Sosa, the only slugger to bash more than 60 homers in three different seasons and who totaled 609 in his career.
• Mike Piazza, who hit 396 of his 427 homers as a catcher -- the most of any player at that position in Major League history.
None of them made it in.
Jack Morris, a starter who dominated the American League during the 1980s, didn't make it, either, on his 14th try. Morris, who had 254 career wins during his 18-year career -- an American League-best 162 of them in the 1980s -- topped a list of returnees that included, among others, Jeff Bagwell, Lee Smith, Tim Raines, Alan Trammell, Edgar Martinez and Dale Murphy, the center fielder who finished his 15-year tenure on the writers' ballot without success.
There will still be an induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 28. Longtime Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, turn-of-the-20th-century umpire Hank O'Day and 19th-century catcher Deacon White were elected to the Hall last month by the Pre-Integration Committee, and their memories and heirs will be honored on that date. All three are deceased.
Phil Niekro, Tony Perez and Don Sutton split the vote in 1996, with Niekro leading at 68.3 percent. All three eventually attained enshrinement. Two players and two managers, including Jim Bunning and Earl Weaver, were elected that year by a Veterans Committee.
Among the first-timers, Biggio seems to be on a clear course toward a plaque, because 3,000 hits is an almost-certain ticket to the hallowed Hall. He led the balloting, receiving 68 percent of the vote. Of the 26 other retired players who amassed 3,000 or more hits, only two are not in the Hall, and both have extenuating circumstances. Rafael Palmeiro had 3,020 hits and 569 homers but was suspended for a positive steroid test in 2005, his last season in the Major Leagues. Pete Rose, the all-time leader with 4,256 hits, is banned from baseball because of gambling and is not eligible to be included on Hall of Fame ballots.
Biggio played 20 seasons, all for the Astros. He batted .281 as a catcher, outfielder and second baseman; he played 1,989 of his 2,850 games at second base.
Bonds played 22 seasons for the Pirates and Giants and holds the all-time records for homers in a career (762) and a single season (73), plus walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688). He is sixth all-time with a .444 on-base percentage, sixth with a .607 slugging percentage and fourth with a 1.051 OPS, which combines on-base and slugging percentages. Using the metrics of today, Bonds is third in overall WAR (Wins Above Replacement) behind Babe Ruth and Cy Young and third in offensive WAR behind Ruth and Ty Cobb. He won the National League MVP Award seven times, including three times before 1998, the demarcation line for when many believe steroid use in baseball entered its peak.
Clemens, who pitched for the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros during a 24-year career, is ninth in career victories, one shy of Greg Maddux, the pitcher with the most wins in their era with 355. Clemens is third all-time with 4,672 strikeouts, behind Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. His career WAR ranks eighth for all players and third among pitchers behind Young and Walter Johnson, the pitchers with the most wins in history. Clemens won the AL MVP Award and the Cy Young Award in 1986 for the Red Sox. He captured the Cy Young Award seven times, six of them in the AL.
Sosa hit 66 homers for the Cubs in 1998, the year of the feverish home run race with Mark McGwire to break Roger Maris' record of 61, set in 1961. McGwire finished with 70, a record that was broken three years later by Bonds. During that '98 season, Sosa led the National League with 158 RBIs and was named the NL's MVP. His home run hitting didn't end there. Sosa hit 63 in 1999, 64 in 2001 and led the league with 50 in 2000 and 49 in 2002. During that five-year period from 1998-2002, Sosa hit 292 homers.
Piazza may be the greatest offensive catcher in baseball history, hitting the most home runs of any backstop to go along with a .308 lifetime batting average, 1,335 RBIs, and a .922 OPS, the last mark also tops among catchers. The MVP of the 1996 All-Star Game in Philadelphia was a 12-time All-Star and 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and won Rookie of the Year honors with the Dodgers in 1993.
Tom Cheek, who called the first 4,306 regular-season games and 41 postseason games in Blue Jays history, will receive the Ford C. Frick Award for "major contributions to baseball" posthumously on July 27 during a ceremony at Doubleday Field. He is survived by his wife, Shirley, who is expected to be in Cooperstown to accept the award.
Paul Hagen of MLB.com will be presented the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for "meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and will also be honored at Doubleday Field that day.
Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Mike Mussina and Jeff Kent will be among the first-timers on next year's ballot.
---- Source: MLB.com