We got spoiled.
We have been electing players into Baseball’s Hall of Fame Museum at such a record pace these past seven years, we forgot all about 2013.
Yes, that was the year the Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected no one, inciting a huge outcry that the voting system was broken.
No, it was working perfectly.
The past seven years, with 22 players voted into the Hall of Fame, the procedure works just fine.
Just like today, with no player elected Tuesday for only the fourth time since 1961, the BBWAA’s voting criteria still works.
And it was reflected on this year’s ballot, with no one receiving the necessary 75% of the vote.
Curt Schilling (71.1%, 16 votes short) came the closest, followed by Barry Bonds (61.8%) and Roger Clemens (61.6%).
This was a year with a weak incoming class, and the holdovers had the largest voting percentage from a year ago. So the fact that no one was elected is just fine – despite there being a record 14 blank ballots.
It doesn’t mean that Schilling, Bonds, Clemens won’t get in. Same goes for Scott Rolen, Omar Vizquel, Todd Helton and Billy Wagner. Maybe Gary Sheffield and Jeff Kent one day too.
There may not have been anybody elected in 2013, but six players off that ballot eventually got in. Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza and Tim Raines were later voted in by the Baseball Writers Association of America, with Jack Morris and Lee Smith elected by the veterans committee.
Rolen saw a huge jump in support, up to 52.9% from 35.3% last year. Helton (44.9% from 29.2%), Wagner (46.4% from 31.7%) and Sheffield (40.6% from 30.5%) also got some good news on Tuesday.
So, yes, the voting process is still healthy, with three or more players elected in five of the past seven years.
This summer, we’l stilll be able to celebrate the careers of Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller, who were elected a year ago, but never inducted with the 2020 ceremony postponed because of the pandemic.
And next year?
Well, we could have the most fascinating ballot in modern-day history.
The newcomers will feature Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Jimmy Rollins and Mark Teixeira.
It will also be the 10th and final year of eligibility for Schilling, Bonds and Clemens.
It’s quite possible that voters who believe Rodriguez should be in the Hall of Fame, despite his year-long drug suspension, will have no choice but to vote for Bonds and Clemens.
And how about Ortiz?
He was never punished or suspended for PEDs, but tested positive in an anonymous drug test in 2003, according to the New York Times.
Where do you draw the line?
If Bonds and Clemens aren’t voted in next year, they’ll likely be out forever. The veterans committee won’t look favorably on anyone with PED ties, even though they realize that a few steroid users likely are already in the Hall of Fame.
Meanwhile, Schilling finished with the highest voting percentage this year. Will he find enough new votes to get over the hump?
He’ll tell you that his views simply aren’t accepted because of his conservative political beliefs and support for former president Donald Trump, but Mariano Rivera loved Trump too and is the only player in history to be a unanimous selection into the Hall of Fame.
Ultimately, the dialogue on the candidacy of Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Rodriguez and Ortiz will be a complicated, convoluted, obfuscated mess.
And I can’t wait.
