For the first time since 1960, membership in the National Baseball Hall of Fame will remain frozen.
No player in the Hall’s 2021 BBWAA election has reached the 75% threshold required to enroll in Cooperstown. The results of the writer’s vote were announced by Hall of Fame President Tim Mead on the MLB network on Tuesday night.
The most important winner of the vote was the controversial pitcher Curt Schilling, who was named on 71.1 percent of the ballots, 16 votes being shy of the minimum required for selection. Schilling was followed by leader Barry Bonds (61.8 percent) and 354-game winner Roger Clemens (61.6).
All three former All-Stars were in their ninth year of election, leaving them one more chance next winter. Players receive 10 photos at registration by voting for writers before going on to examine one of the various veterans’ committees of the time.
Support for Bonds and Clemens has mostly flattened in recent seasons, as writers’ positions on Steroid-era players have largely taken root at one level, leaving them untouched. Last season, Clemens was named on 61% of the ballots, while Bonds was at 60.7.