The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee got together on Sunday to discuss the MLB Hall of Fame candidacies of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Dale Murphy, Albert Belle, Rafael Palmeiro, Don Mattingly, and Fred McGriff.
Only McGriff was voted in as a member of the Class of 2023, after receiving 16 out of 16 possible votes.
Everyone else fell short of the required 75% threshold (12 votes in this case) to be enshrined.
In fact, Bonds and Clemens, two of the best players ever to step on a baseball field, each got fewer than four votes, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman.
Their relationship with performance-enhancing drugs keep damaging their case, as some people won’t forgive them for it.
An MLB analyst thinks the fact that Bonds, in particular, is still not in the Hall is shocking.
“Bonds receiving less than 25% of votes from the Contemporary Era Committee is definitely alarming. The greatest hitter of all time. Period. Barry Bonds needs to be in the Hall of Fame,” Ben Verlander tweeted.
Bonds receiving less than 25% of votes from the Contemporary Era Committee is definitely alarming.
The greatest hitter of all time. Period. Barry Bonds needs to be in the Hall of Fame.
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) December 5, 2022
The Greatest Hitter Of All Time?
Considering the quality of competition, there is a strong case to be made that Bonds was, indeed, the best hitter of all time.
He retired with the MLB records for most home runs in a year (73 in 2021) and a career (762), not to mention more walks than anybody.
He finished his MLB tenure with a strong .298 batting average, 762 homers, 2,935 hits, 1,996 RBI, and 514 stolen bases.
He went to 14 All-Star Games, he won seven MVP awards, Silver Sluggers, Gold Gloves, Hank Aarons, and lots of other recognitions.
Considering MLB ignored the use of steroids for more than a decade in the nineties and 2000s, Bonds and other stars with similar cases (like Clemens, on the mound) should be in the Hall of Fame.
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