Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have been passed up for the Baseball Hall of Fame once again.
On Tuesday, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voted for which players will make up the 2022 Hall of Fame class in Cooperstown. Only one player was selected, David Ortiz, who makes it in as a first ballot Hall of Famer with 77.9 percent of the vote.
Both Bonds (66 percent) and Clemens (65.2 percent) fell short of the 75 percent mark needed to make the Hall of Fame and are now officially ineligible to be voted upon by the BBWAA as their 10-year window has closed. Technically, both Bonds and Clemens can make it in via the Today’s Game committee, which is run by the Hall of Fame itself, but will need 12 of 16 votes to make it in.
It was a long shot for both Bonds and Clemens — the former especially — to make it into the Hall of Fame. Bonds’ history with performance enhancing drugs as part of the BALCO scandal was a major layup for many in the Hall of Fame, enough to keep him out throughout his entire 10 years of eligibility even though the support for him grew with each passing year.
Ortiz, for what it’s worth, has also reportedly tested positive for a banned substance during an anonymous survey test conducted by the MLB in 2003.
Here’s how the baseball world reacted to both Bonds and Clemens being snubbed by the BBWAA in their final year of voter eligibility.
