The Baseball Writers Association of America announced results of 2021 National Baseball Hall of Fame voting, and no new players have been elected this year.
Curt Schilling came the closest, receiving 71.1% and falling 16 votes shy in his ninth of 10 potential years on the ballot. A presumed reason for Schilling’s lack of support goes beyond the field into his political and humanity views. He has asked to be removed from the ballot next year, although that is unlikely to actually happen.
After Schilling, the next two closest were alleged steroid users in Barry Bonds (61.8%) and Roger Clemens (61.6%). They were also both in their ninth year on the ballot and likely haven’t gained enough traction to receive the necessary 75% in their final year in 2022.
Making the most progress from last year to 2021 was Scott Rolen (35.3% to 52.9%), Billy Wagner (31.7% to 46.4%) and Todd Helton (29.2% to 44.9%). All three have multiple remaining years on the ballot, which bodes well for them moving forward.
This is just the ninth time that the BBWAA did not elect any players. It also happening in 1945, 1950, 1958, 1960, 1965, 1971, 1996 and 2013. They did elect 22 players from 2014-20, however.
Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced the 2020 induction ceremony to be postponed, there still be one on July 25 of this year to honor the 2020 inductees, including Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller.
How former Dodgers fared
There were a number of former Los Angeles Dodgers players on the 2021 ballot and although none got in, some gained some traction. Gary Sheffield improved from 30.5% to 40.6% in his seventh year on the ballot, while Andruw Jones went from 19.4% to 33.9% and Jeff Kent went from 27.5% to 32.4% on their fourth and eighth years, respectively.
Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez stayed at 28.2% in his fifth year, and Bobby Abreu only improved from 5.5% to 8.7% in his second.
Two more former Dodgers, Dan Haren and Shane Victorino, did not receive any votes in their first year and will be removed from future consideration.
The 2022 Hall of Fame ballot is expected to be just as controversial as this year’s with Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Mark Teixeira among those who will be eligible to be elected for the first time.
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