Baseball Hall of Fame: What’s next for the snubbed players
At 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon, four men had their lives changed forever, as they were selected for induction into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
For some, aka Don Matingly the clock hit midnight on their chances of being selected by the BBWAA, while 12 players received less than the five percent needed to remain on the ballot, ending their hopes of receiving baseball’s highest honor – at least for the time being. For countless others, the waiting game will last at least another year. Here’s a look at the most notable omissions to this year’s Hall of Fame class and their future prospects of induction;
Mike Piazza (69.9%) The former Mets’ backstop likely holds the most promise out of any of the returning candidates in 2016, needing only 5.1 percent more of the vote for induction into the Hall. Piazza was a 12-time NL All-Star and captured the 1993 National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Jeff Bagwell (55.7%) The Massachusetts-born infielder needs 19.3 percent more of the vote for induction but his 449 career home runs may not be enough for the 1994 National League MVP to gain entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame, joining his longtime teammate Craig Biggio.
Tim Raines (55.0%) 2016 will mark the ninth year that Raines appears on the Hall of Fame ballot, although he will need a 20 percent spike in voting to be destined for Cooperstown which does not seem likely.
Curt Schilling (39.2%) The right hander will not be joining his Bloody Sock in upstate New York in 2015, and his solid resume, which boats an 11-2 postseason clip with three World Series rings, could make Schilling Hall of Fame-bound in the later years of his ballot eligibility.
Roger Clemens (37.5%) Although Rocket won 354 games, seven Cy Young Awards and the 1986 AL MVP Award, his cloudy connection to the Steriod Era will likely keep Clemens out of Cooperstown in the near future.
Barry Bonds (36.8%) Like Clemens, a connection to performance enhancing drugs may keep the home run king out of the Hall of Fame as he fell almost 40 percent short of induction in 2015.
Alan Trammell (25.1%) The former Tigers shortstop will be on the ballot for a final time in 2016, and it is a long shot that the six-time All-Star will be inducted to the Hall of Fame.
Mike Mussina (24.6%) Moose fell 30 wins short of 300 for his career but saw a spike in his vote totals in 2015. Like Schilling, Mussina is a guy who may squeak in during the latter years of his eligibility period.
Mark McGwire (10.0%) Another slugger doomed by his connection to performance enhancing drugs, McGwire is much closer to falling off the ballot than he is gaining entrance to the Hall of Fame.
Don Mattingly (9.1%) The former first baseman’s final year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot was 2015, and now can only be inducted by the Expansion Era committee, which seems unlikely.
Sammy Sosa (6.6%) Tied closely to Mark McGwire, Sosa is inching closer to falling off the ballot. Maybe another year passing by will help out the Steroid Era sluggers like McGwire, Bonds, and Sosa, but if not, the trio is unlikely to get elected to Cooperstown.
Nomar Garciaparra (5.5%) This one surprised me, as I missed the mark as I projected Nomar to Cooperstown in my piece yesterday, but instead, the former shortstop barely remained on the 2016 ballot. Judging by these results, a plaque in the Hall of Fame does not seem waiting for Garciaparra in the future.
Carlos Delgado, Troy Percival, Aaron Boone, Tom Gordon, Darin Erstad, Rich Aurilia, Tony Clark, Jermaine Dye, Cliff Floyd, Brian Giles, Eddie Guardado and Jason Schmidt were the players that received less than 5% of the vote and therefore will not appear on the 2016 Hall of Fame Ballot.
Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman appear on the ballot for the first time in 2016 and appear to be shoo-ins for the Hall of Fame. Mike Piazza appears to be the only returnee close to induction and I predict that next year’s class with include Griffey, Piazza, and Hoffman.