No New Baseball Hall of Fame Selections

Fallout from the steroid era in major league baseball resulted in no new members added to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  The announcement from the Hall earlier this week revealed that the Baseball Writers' Association of America, the group that votes on entry into the Hall, failed to grant any additional members for 2013.

75% of each year's vote is needed to gain entry into baseball's most precious shrine.  Craig Biggio came closest with 68 % of the vote.  Superstars Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa fell well short of the votes.  Slugger Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in 1998 while Sosa finished with 66 that year.  Bonds leads baseball's all-time home run list with 762 while Clemens won over 300 games over his big-league career.

This is only  the eighth time that no one has been elected since the Hall of Fame opened in 1936.  The ceremonies will be held in July in Cooperstown despite no new entrants from the writer's ballots.  Jacob Ruppert, former Yankees owner; Deacon White, a 19th century catcher; and former umpire Hank O'Day all will be honored posthumously, selected by a panel that considers those no longer eligible for the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot.

Bonds, McGwire and Clemens all had their careers tainted by allegations of steroid use to enhance their performance.  Only McGwire has admitted any steroid use.  Many of the writers and a number of current Hall of Fame members have strongly come out opposing the selection of anyone suspected of steroid use.  That belief became evident with the results announced this week.  For players like Bonds and Clemens the process has really just begun.  Players can stay eligible for selection for 15 years so this is just the start of their journey.