For the first time since 1996, the BBWAA has failed to elect a player to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Congratulations Hall of Fame, you've officially taken another step towards becoming irrelevant! The full vote totals can be found on the BBWAA's website.
Craig Biggio led the voting with 68.2% of the vote, while Jack Morris hardly moved in the voting with 67.7% of the vote. Jeff Bagwell finished with 59.6%, Mike Piazza had 57.8% of the vote, Tim Raines had 52.2% of the vote, and Lee Smith 47.8% of the vote. Smith actually lost support for his candidacy, while Bagwell and Raines made modest gains.
The two most talked about names coming into the voting were Roger Clemens (who finished 37.6% of the vote) and Barry Bonds (who finished with 36.2% of the vote). Neither came close, and considering early projections had each around 50%, this is a disappointing dropoff for each. Curt Schilling finished higher than both players in his first year on the ballot, picking up 38.8% of the vote.
In his final year on the ballot, Dale Murphy received 18.6% of the vote. Edgar Martinez and Alan Trammell somehow lost votes, with both going from above 36% to below 36%. Larry Walker and Fred McGriff both also lost support. Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Don Mattingly all also lost votes, as Mattingly heads into his last two years on the ballot paling in comparison to the other first basemen on the ballot. Sammy Sosa received just 12.5% of the votes in his first year on the ballot.
Congratulations, BBWAA. You've made it all about you, and now, you don't have to go to upstate New York during the final weekend in July while gritting your teeth and writing columns about presumed steroid users.
