Bonds struck out for sixth time by voters
Hall calls for contemporaries Jones, Guerrero, Thome and Hoffman
Four legends were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday, but the most accomplished player on the ballot, Barry Bonds, missed out again.
Bonds, baseball’s all-time home run leader whose candidacy is clouded by PED accusations, fell short for the sixth time. The former Giants great was named on 56.4 percent of the ballots, up from last year’s 53.8 percent but well short of the required 75 percent needed for induction.
Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman were the four voted into the Hall of Fame. Edgar Martinez, the Mariners’ star designated hitter, fell short as he received 70.4 percent of the vote from eligible members of the Baseball Writers Association
of America.
Bonds, a seven-time Most Valuable Player Award winner who holds the record for most home runs in a single season (73) and career (762), has four more years of eligibility on the ballot before his fate would be decided by the veteran’s committee. Roger Clemens, whose bid has also been clouded in steroid rumors, also fell short at 57.3 percent. Also coming up short again was former Giants star second baseman Jeff Kent (14.5). Omar Vizquel, another ex-Giant, received 37 percent of the vote in his first time on the ballot.
“Obviously, I have no problem and I’ve said it publicly and
often that Barry Bonds is the best baseball player that I’ve ever seen don a uniform,” Jones said on a conference call. “It’s unfortunate that some of the best players of this era have a cloud of suspicion because you’re talking about some all-timers — guys that would be considered the greatest players of all-time.
“The greatest pitcher of all-time. Seven Cy Youngs. Seven MVPs. I mean, these are historic numbers. That being said, I’m not going to tell anyone how to vote. I think both would have been Hall of Famers regardless, whether they had a cloud of suspicion or not. So I’m just going to leave it at that for now until the time actually comes.”
Players who don’t receive at least 5 percent of the voting drop off the ballot. Those whose Hall candidacy ended Wednesday include ex-A’s Johnny Damon (1.9 percent) and Hideki Matsui (0.9) and former Giant Livan Hernandez (9.2). Ex-Giant Aubrey Huff and former A’s closer Jason Isringhausen didn’t receive a vote.
Jones was the highest vote-getter as he was on 97.2 percent (410 of 422) of the ballots, followed by Guerrero (92.9), Thome (89.8) and Hoffman (79.9).
“It was waterworks,” Jones said after hearing the vote.
Jones and Thome raise to 54 the total of players elected in their first year of eligibility. It was the second year for Guerrero and
third for Hoffman.
An eight-time All-Star, Jones won the 1999 NL MVP and the 2008 NL batting title. He batted .303 with 2,726 hits and 468 home runs in 19 seasons with the Atlanta Braves.
Jones was a force for most of the Atlanta teams that won 14 straight division titles — his election puts another member of those Braves clubs in Cooperstown, along with pitchers John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, manager Bobby Cox and general manager John Schuerholz.
Thome hit 612 home runs, putting him eighth on the career list. The fivetime All-Star played mostly for the Cleveland Indians.
Guerrero received 92.9 percent of the votes. The nine-time All-Star slugger played half his career with the Montreal Expos.
The outfielder, a notorious bad-ball hitter, batted .318 with 449 homers and 1,496 RBIs. Guerrero was the 2004 AL MVP with the Anaheim Angels.
Hoffman got 79.9 percent after missing by just five votes last time, when Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez were elected. Hoffman becomes only the sixth pitcher in the Hall who was primarily a reliever, after Hoyt Wilhelm (1985), Rollie Fingers (1992), Dennis Eckersley (2004), Bruce Sutter (2006) and Goose Gossage (2008). The former San Diego Padres closer had 601 saves, second to Mariano Rivera’s 652.
It took 75 percent for election, or 317 votes. Martinez made a big move up to 70.4 percent and fell 20 votes short. Mike Mussina climbed to 63.5 percent.
It was the ninth try to
Martinez, and next year will be his last on the ballot. But it was the second consecutive year that yielded a significant jump for Martinez in his attempt to join Frank Thomas as the only inducted players who were primarily designated hitters. He was at 58.6 percent last year and just four years ago was at 25.2 percent. Every player who has reached the 70-percent plateau at some point in the voting process has been inducted.
“Getting 70.4 percent is a big improvement and all I can think right now is that it’s looking good for next year,” Martinez said on a conference call. “It would have been great to get in this year, but it looks good for next year.”
Relievers and DHs get a boost when Rivera becomes eligible next year and David Ortiz in 2022.
Roy Halladay also will be on the 2019 ballot. The retired pitcher died Nov. 7 at age 40 when a plane he was piloting crashed off Florida.
Voters must have been members of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years and their ballots were due Dec. 31.
Jones, Thome, Guerrero and Hoffman will be inducted into the Hall at Cooperstown on July 29 along with pitcher Jack Morris and shortstop Alan Trammell, who were voted in last month by the Hall’s Modern Era committee, which considered former players and executives whose contributions to baseball were most significant from 1970-87.