Sammy Sosa’s chances of being voted into the Hall of Fame looked as bleak as ever Tuesday, after the Baseball Writers’ Association of America revealed voting totals.
Appearing on just 17 percent of qualified voters’ ballots, the former Cubs right fielder gained some support in his Hall of Fame bid compared to last year (13.9 percent). Though Sosa collected enough votes to remain on the ballot for a 10th year, he is far from the 75 percent he’d need to join the Hall, with just one year left of ballot eligibility.
For the first time since 2013, the BBWAA did not elect any player to the Hall of Fame this year. Curt Schilling was the closest to reaching the threshold, appearing on 71.1 percent of ballots. He announced on Facebook Tuesday that he’d asked the Hall of Fame to remove him from the ballot next year, preferring to put his fate in the hands of the Veterans Committee, which considers players who are no longer eligible for election by the BBWAA.
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Aramis Ramírez, another former Cub, only received four votes, appearing on 1 percent of ballots, and will fall off the ballot.
Barry Bonds (61.8 percent) and Roger Clemens(61.6), who like Sosa have been accused of using performance enhancing drugs during their careers, received roughly the same percentage of votes as they did last year. Those who don’t vote for Bonds, Clemens or Sosa often invoke the “character clause” in the HOF voting guidelines.
Electors are instructed: “Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”
MLB
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Sosa is a seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger. He won the NL MVP in 1998, the same year his and Mark McGwire’s home run chase made baseball the talk of the sports world. Sosa ranks ninth (609 home runs) on the all-time home run list.
“What hurts me the most is that I see a lot of players that don’t have the numbers that I have and they have more points than me,” Sosa told The Athletic’s Marc Carig a year ago. “I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”