On the latest episode of Balk Talk, former Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter tells Jessica Kleinschmidt why he decided to intentionally walk Giants’ Barry Bonds in 1998.
There was no Hall of Fame ceremony in Cooperstown, New York last summer, and the pandemic might delay this year's, as well. But the voting goes on, which isn't great news for the all-time home run king.
Giants legend Barry Bonds currently leads the voting on publicly available ballots, but he's short of the 75 percent threshold needed for induction, and traditionally Bonds has taken a big hit once private ballots come back in January.
According to Ryan Thibodaux's indispensable tracker, Bonds has been listed on 74.2 percent of the 124 ballots that have been released by voters thus far, giving him a slight edge over Roger Clemens (73.4) and Curt Schilling (72.6). But Bonds has not actually gained much ground. He has been listed on five of six ballots for first-time voters, but lost one vote from a returning voter and gained one:
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SIGN UP HERE Bonds has always done much better on ballots released before the Hall's announcement than those released afterward. Last year he dropped more than 10 percent after the announcement, finishing at 60.7, which was his high in eight years on the ballot but still left him well short of induction. This year's results will be announced Jan. 26 on MLB Network.
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Bonds has one more year on the ballot after this one, although it continues to not look promising. That's the case for everyone else on the ballot this year, too. Clemens won't finish above 75 percent and Schilling, who was at 70 percent last year, has actually lost support over the last 12 months, mostly because of his continued controversial comments.
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After those three, Todd Helton (54.8) and Gary Sheffield (53.2) are also being listed on the majority of ballots. Former Giants Tim Hudson (six total votes) and Barry Zito (zero) are not faring well in year one on the ballot.
