At least Cooperstown will have Derek Jeter this summer.
A year after the former Yankee came one vote short of becoming the second player unanimously selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it’s expected that no players will get enough votes for enshrinement when it’s announced Tuesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Curt Schilling was at 75.1 percent of votes counted by Ryan Thibodaux and tallied on Twitter @Notmrtibbs.
And while that would be enough for the 75 percent cutoff for entry, percentages consistently drop off significantly once all the votes are counted.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were the only others tracking at over 70 percent Tuesday, both near where they were at this time a year ago, when they also came up well short.
If none of the three makes it Tuesday, it will be the first time in eight years no one is elected to the Hall of Fame.
That was also the first year Schilling, Bonds and Clemens were on the ballot. Nine players from that 2013 ballot, including Larry Walker and Mike Piazza, eventually got in.
As for this July, though, since last year’s induction ceremony was canceled due to the COVID pandemic, Jeter, Walker, Ted Simmons and the late union leader Marvin Miller are scheduled to be honored in upstate New York.
Next year will also be the final time on the ballot for Schilling, Bonds and Clemens, although they’d be eligible to get in with veterans committees in the future. How that will impact the disgraced players remains to be seen.
Schilling may have also cost himself future votes with his reaction to the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, adding to his list of controversial statements over the years.
In addition to 2022 being the final year of eligibility for Schilling, Bonds and Clemens, it will also be the first year for some other controversial figures — including Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz.
Both Rodriguez and Ortiz, like Bonds and Clemens, have ties to PEDs. Rodriguez admitted to using them, while Ortiz has denied it, but his name appeared in the Mitchell Report.
Rodriguez and Ortiz have had more success in rehabbing their images. Each of them are on Fox Sports during the postseason, and Rodriguez also works for ESPN and made a run at buying the Mets this offseason before losing out to Steve Cohen.
Of the 25 first-year players on this year’s ballot, Mark Buehrle is highest at just 7.9 percent.
Scott Rolen is next in line behind Clemens and Bonds, at 62.1 percent, which would be a jump from the 35 percent he got a year ago.
Todd Helton, Billy Wagner, Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones and Omar Vizquel were the only remaining players receiving more than 40 percent of the votes.
Former Yankee Nick Swisher and ex-Mets Michael Cuddyer and LaTroy Hawkins are also on the ballot for the first time this year while former Yankees Andy Pettitte and Bobby Abreu and former Met Jeff Kent are among the other holdovers.
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