There will not be a new class inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year. No player on the Hall’s 2021 Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot reached the 75% mark needed to be enshrined in Cooperstown. The voting results were announced on the MLB Network on Tuesday night, and Curt Schilling was the leading vote-getter (71.1%). He was followed by Barry Bonds (61.8%) and Roger Clemens (61.6%).
All three players were on their ninth year of eligibility, which means they have one more chance to be voted into the Hall of Fame by the writers. If they don’t get in next year, they will be considered by one of the Hall’s various era-based veterans communities. For Bonds and Clemens, the support for getting them into the Hall of Fame has plateaued in recent years due to the writers’ thoughts on them being associated with the steroid era. Schilling has struggled to get inducted into the Hall of Fame due to his controversial statements over the years.
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When it comes to their on-field accomplishments, all three have put up Hall of Fame type numbers. Bonds is the all-time home run leader with 762. He was a 14-time All-Star, a seven-time MVP winner, an eight-time gold glove winner and a 12-time Silver Slugger winner. Bonds also holds the record for most home runs in a single season with 73. His No. 25 jersey with the San Francisco Giants is retired, and he’s a member of the team’s Hall of Fame.
Clemens is one of the most successful pitchers of all-time. He won 354 games, struck out 4,672 batters, was named an all-star 11 times and is a seven-time Cy Young winner. Clemens also won two World Series when he was a member of the New York Yankees and won the AL MVP award when he was a Boston Red Sox member.
Schilling was one of the most successful postseason pitchers in baseball history. He posted an 11-2 record in the playoffs and won three World Series – one with the Arizona Diamondbacks and two with the Boston Red Sox. He was named World Series MVP in 2001 and NLCS MVP in 1993 when he was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Schilling is a six-time all-star and a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame as well as the Phillies Wall of Fame.
According to ESPN, this will be the first time since 1960 the National Baseball Hall of Fame will be frozen. However, the 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be inducted this summer. Their ceremony was delayed last year due to the COVID-pandemic, and the class includes Derek Jeter, Ted Simmons, Larry Walker, and the late Marvin Miller.
