Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens see small rise in HOF votes

Besides the obvious “Who gets in?” the next big question of the modern Hall of Fame results day is how voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America chose to deal with the stars of the PED era.

Survey says, they’re going in different directions this year.

None of the infamous four on the Hall of Fame ballot came anywhere close to the 75-percent threshold that elected Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio. But both Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens saw their votes increase ever so slightly, while Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s votes both declined.

In a larger look, both McGwire and Sosa have nosedived. Sosa had 71 votes in 2013, nearly double his 2015 total. Meanwhile, McGwire fell from 96 votes in 2013, so his drop off is even greater. The good news for them? Neither fell below five percent, like Rafael Palmeiro did last year, and thus Sosa and McGwire will remain on the ballot for 2016.

This year’s crowded ballot — 34 names! — certainly contributed to the decline of Sosa and McGwire. If someone was going to vote for PED-era players, they were going to start with Bonds and Clemens, not McGwire and Sosa. 

Based on how this year’s 549 votes shook out, Bonds and Clemens have a long ways to go. Clemens needs to double his supporters, while Bonds needs double, plus a few additional votes. 

It’s not out of the question that both make it to Cooperstown, but it’s not going to be easy either. Time forgives, of course, and they each have seven more years on the ballot. If the BBWAA electorate changes, gets younger and becomes more lenient toward players of that era, it could happen.

An increase of four votes per year, however, isn’t going to get either Bonds or Clemens to the stage at Cooperstown on Hall of Fame Weekend.

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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz