For the ninth time in history and the first since 2013, the American Baseball Writers Association (BBWAA) did not elect any new members to the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, the two agencies reported Tuesday.
Pitcher Curt Schilling was the closest to being elected by drawing 71.1 percent of the ballots cast, falling short by just 16 votes to enter the Sports Immortal Enclosure. . Schilling was followed by all-time homer leader Barry Bonds (61.8 percent) and 354-game winner Roger Clemens (61.6) in the vote.
Schilling, Bonds, Clemens and gardener Sammy Sosa failed to get 75% of the vote for the ninth year in a row, meaning they will return to the ballot in 2020 for a tenth and final chance.
Annoyed by the result, Schilling stated that he does not want to see his name on the ballot next year to leave in the hands of the Veterans Committee his entry into Coopertown.
“I will not participate in the last year of voting. I request that I be removed from the ballot. I will give in to the veterans committee and the men’s opinions really matter,” he wrote in a letter on Facebook.
Support for Bonds and Clemens has stalled mainly in recent seasons, as writers ’positions on players associated with the Steroid Era have largely solidified to a level that leaves them just below the door. Last season, Clemens was nominated by 61 percent of the vote, while Bonds got 60.7.
Schilling, on the other hand, had seen its turnout rise from 45 percent in 2017 to 70 percent last year. Historically, most players who reach the 70 percent level eventually get enough support to land in Cooperstown. However, the violent backlash against Schillings’ public presence and social media appears to be limiting his support.
Among Schilling’s most controversial moments is a 2016 tweet in which he appeared to support the lynching of journalists, which was later removed. More recently, Schilling expressed support for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, even though the writers ’ballots had been submitted before that date.
The numbers on the Bonds and Clemens pitch are unquestionable, as both players are among the most productive players in baseball history, although their successes have been bogged down by allegations of substance use by improve the performance that has surrounded them since they were still active players. Schilling’s case based on merit is not as solid, but the recent trajectory of his turnout had suggested he was on his way to being exalted. That the three highlights remain outward looking inward suggests that the character clause that appears in the criteria the Salon gives writers flattens larger than ever.
Exclusion from the BBWAA vote is only part of the reason the Show will not get new members this year. Veterans committees based on the era of the room usually meet just before the winter meetings each year to consider candidates ‘eligibility for expired writers’ ballots. The 2020 winter meetings were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the veterans committees did not meet and will not consider candidates again until the 2021 meetings in December.
So Tuesday’s announcement means no new player has won entry to Cooperstown since the Kennedy administration. During the period from 1958 to 1960, only Zack Wheat (1959) was selected.
Since the Hall of Fame was founded in 1936 (the first ceremony took place three years later), writers have also not chosen a new immortal in the processes of 1945, 1946, 1950, 1958, 1960, 1971, 1996. and 2013, being this, curiously, the last time the players were whitewashed by the journalist, where they debuted Bonds, Clemens, Schilling and Sosa on the ballot.
That the BBWAA has not favored any of the candidates does not mean that the 2021 exaltation ceremony will be deserted.
On Sunday, July 25 at the Clark Sports Complex in Cooperstown, tribute will be paid to last year’s promotion, consisting of Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller, the first executive director of the Players Association of Cooperstown. Major Leagues (MLBPA).
In addition, as part of the festivities, the winning narrators of the 2020 Ford C. Frick Prize (Ken Harrelson) and 2021 (A l’Michaels) and the winning writers of the Prize will be recognized on Saturday 24 JG Taylor Spink of 2020 (the late Nick Cafardo) and 2021 (Dick Kaegel).
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, last year’s Hall of Fame ceremonial was canceled, something that hadn’t happened in six decades. Cooperstown did not take oaths in 1950, 1958 and 1960 after the vote did not result in re-election, while no elections were held in 1940, 1941 and 1943. In 1942, Rogers Hornsby was elected but did not attend. have ceremony due to travel restrictions in the United States related to World War II.