David Ortiz is the only player to get enough votes in this year’s BBWAA ballot to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
The BBWAA voted a single player in as part of this year’s Hall of Fame class — David Ortiz, the longtime Boston Red Sox DH who eked in with 77.9% of the vote in his first year on the ballot.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were the next closest, with each appearing on just under two-thirds of the ballots. They, along with Curt Schilling (58.6%) and Sammy Sosa (18.5%), were in their final year of eligibility, and will not be on the ballot next year.
We could be looking at a dry period for BBWAA inductees — the BBWAA voted no one in last year, and next year’s class looks unlikely to have any new additions to the ballot who will garner 75% of the vote. Carlos Beltran has the best Hall of Fame case of that group, but his involvement in the cheating scandal is likely going to result in him falling well short. Among those eligible this year who are returning to the ballot next year, Scott Rolen, at 63.2%, would seem to be the only player with a realistic shot of being voted in.
Fortunately, the subsequent class won’t be shut out — that will be the year Adrian Beltre is first eligible.