Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens Will Get New Chance At Hall Of Fame Next Month

Controversial Cooperstown candidates Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling are getting another shot at the Baseball Hall of Fame – even though their 10-year stay on the writers’ ballot ended last year.

They are three of the eight former players named Monday to the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee, an off-shoot of the former Veterans Committee.

Also on that list are Albert Belle, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro.

Bonds, who holds the single-season and career home run records, won a record seven Most Valuable Player awards, while Clemens took seven Cy Youngs, also a record, while winning 354 games, second among living pitchers to Hall of Fame incumbent Greg Maddux.

To win election to Cooperstown, players must receive 75 per cent of the vote – at least 12 votes from the 16-member Contemporary Era Committee. Results will be announced at the Baseball Winter Meetings in San Diego Dec. 4 and telecast live on MLB Network at 8 p.m. EST.

Anyone who wins election will be inducted in Cooperstown, NY next July 23 as part of the Class of 2023 along with electees from the upcoming vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America, to be announced in January.

Bonds, Clemens, and Palmeiro compiled Cooperstown-caliber records but were suspected, though never charged or suspended, of inflating their statistics with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

None of them mustered the required 75 per cent of the vote during their 10 years – the maximum permitted – on the writers’ ballot.

In 22 years, Bonds not only won seven MVP awards but eight Gold Gloves for his outfield play. A rare blend of speed plus power, he had five 30/30 seasons and led the National League in on-base percentage 10 times.

His career total of 762 home runs was seven more than Hank Aaron’s, with most of that difference occurring during his 73-homer season of 2001. It was the only time Bonds topped the 50-homer plateau.

Clemens lasted 24 years, pitching for the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Astros. He had five 20-win seasons, made 11 All-Star teams, and won an MVP award and two World Series rings.

A hard-throwing right-hander who struck out 20 men in a nine-inning game twice, Clemens also led his league in earned run average seven times.

Like Clemens, Schilling was a pitching star for the Red Sox who also starred for other teams. He won 216 games in a 20-year career, made the All-Star team six times, and went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 19 post-season games.

He and Randy Johnson, already enshrined in Cooperstown, were co-MVPs of the 2001 World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A control artist, Schilling was one of four pitchers with at least 3,000 strikeouts but less than 1,000 walks. But he never reached 75 per cent of the vote from the writers after posting unpopular political comments on social media – and then asking voters to ignore his name.

Palmeiro also courted controversy, as he became suspected of PED use and even made a public denial during a Congressional hearing.

The only Cooperstown candidate to compile 3,000 hits and 500 homers without winning election, he spent 20 years in the majors as an outfielder and first baseman for the Cubs, Rangers, and Orioles.

A four-time All-Star, he also won three Gold Gloves, hit at least 30 homers 10 times, and finished with more walks than strikeouts.

Belle had a shorter career – just 12 seasons – but was a five-time All-Star and three-time American League RBI king. The only man in baseball history with 50 homers and 50 doubles in the same season (1995), he was a feared slugger for the Indians, White Sox, and Orioles. But he was also a victim of his own temperament, causing friction with fans and other players.

Murphy, on the other hand, was a devout Mormon who didn’t drink, smoke, or swear. All he did was hit, hitting 398 home runs and winning back-to-back MVP awards as an outfielder for the Atlanta Braves.

Before his surgically-repaired knees forced him out of the game, the converted catcher won five Gold Gloves, made the NL All-Star squad seven times, and took two home run crowns. He also had a 30/30 season.

Unlike Murphy, who played only in Atlanta and Philadelphia, McGriff played for six teams. But he hit for all of them.

The big first baseman finished with 493 home runs in 19 seasons with the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Devil Rays, Cubs and Dodgers, won the All-Star Game MVP award in 1994, and helped lead the 1995 Braves to the first world championship in Atlanta’s history. The two-time home run king had a .377 lifetime on-base percentage.

Mattingly is the only man on the ballot who played for only one team. The six-time All-Star hit .307, won nine Gold Gloves and a batting crown, and collected an MVP trophy in 14 seasons as first baseman for the Yankees. He later managed for 12 years and won a Manager of the Year award while leading the Miami Marlins in the National League.

The Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot was compiled by the Historical Overview Committee, comprised of 11 veteran historians: Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network); Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun); Steve Hirdt (Stats Perform); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); David O’Brien (The Athletic); Jack O’Connell (BBWAA); Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram); Tracy Ringolsby (InsideTheSeams.com); Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle); Susan Slusser (San Francisco Chronicle); and Mark Whicker (Los Angeles News Group).

Players whose primary contributions to the game came since 1980 were considered if they played at least 10 seasons and have been retired for at least 15. Players on the ineligible list, such as Pete Rose, were not permitted.

The committee is one of three that considers players, managers, umpires, and executives for election to Cooperstown.

The Contemporary Baseball Era has two separate ballots: one for players and another for managers, umpires, and executives, to be considered next fall. A third group, covering the Classic Baseball Era, examines pre-1980 performers, including players from the Negro Leagues and early baseball.

Next fall, managers, executives, and umpires will be considered for election in the Class of 2024 by other half of the Contemporary Baseball Committee.

The Classic Baseball Committee will vote for the Class of 2025, followed by the Contemporary Baseball Player Committee for the Class of 2026, the Contemporary Manager/Executive/Umpire committee for the Class of 2027, and the Classic Baseball committee for the Class of 2028.

The ballot and the electorate are subject to change with every cycle.