Chapin: Hall of Fame shutout no surprise

This could have been a wonderful time for Major League Baseball with two of its greatest stars elected to the Hall of Fame. Instead, the game’s so-called “steroid era” will take up much of the discussion surrounding the sport in the next few weeks.

The reason is that none of the nominees for the Hall of Fame was named on 75 percent — the threshold for election — of the ballots turned in by the 569 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America who voted this year. With the baseball writers’ voting announced on Wednesday, it means that 1800s player Deacon White, umpire Hank O’Day and team executive Jacob Ruppert will be the only inductees into the Hall in August, all posthumously. They were named earlier by the Veterans Committee.

This year’s ballot included, for the first time, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, two superstars whose career numbers and impact on the game would be Hall of Fame guarantees without the steroid issue.

Though others who have been linked to the use of performance enhancing drugs, namely Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, have done poorly in Hall of Fame voting in recent years, it was expected that things would be different for Bonds and Clemens.

The argument was that both were well on their way to Hall of Fame status before they were caught up in the steroid mess. But anyone paying attention to discussions by Hall of Fame voters in recent weeks should not be surprised by Wednesday’s results.

Within the BBWAA election rules is the following statement: “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”

Many BBWAA voters, through various types of media, indicated that they would follow that edict and said they would not be voting for Bonds or Clemens.

With 569 ballots cast, 427 were needed for election. Clemens was eighth with 214 votes (37.6 percent) and Bonds was ninth with 206 (36.2).

It’s possible that the two eventually will wind up in the Hall of Fame. Voters may change their attitudes over time, the makeup of the voting constituency will change, the perception of wrong-doing may diminish.

Sammy Sosa, another ballot first-timer linked to steroid use, finished 17th with 71 votes, just 12.5 percent. McGwire, in his seventh year on the ballot, was 15th with 96 (16.9 percent), and Palmeiro was 18th with 50 (8.8). All will return to the ballot in 2014 but it is unlikely their fortunes will improve over time.

As for players not linked to steroids there was much discussion concerning the effect the steroid controversy would have on the voting but in truth, all are borderline candidates to start with.

Three other ballot rookies finished in the Top 10. Craig Biggio led all vote-getters with 388 (68.2 percent), Mike Piazza was fourth (329, 57.8) and Curt Schilling seventh (221, 38.8). Jack Morris got 385 votes (67.7 percent) in his 14th and next-to-last year on the ballot. Others included Jeff Bagwell (339, 59.6, third year), Tim Raines (297, 52.2, sixth year) and Lee Smith (272, 47.8, 11th year).

Doug Chapin is a sports writer at The Vindicator. Write him at dchapin@vindy.com.