Survey: Bonds, Clemens, Sosa not Hall of Famers
An Associated Press survey of longtime members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America released Friday indicated that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa would not get enough votes to get into the Hall of Fame.
The three are among the players listed on the ballot. Results will be announced on Jan. 9.
Bonds, Clemens and Sosa are controversial nominees because of their association to performance enhancing drugs.
The survey was taken among 112 voters, which represent about 20 percent of the writers eligible.
Hall of Fame candidates need 75 percent of support of votes to be inducted. Bonds received support from 45 percent of voters, Clemens 43 percent and Sosa 18 percent.
Bonds is a seven-time MVP and all-time home run king with 762. Clemens is a seven-time Cy Young winner and Sosa hit 608 career home runs.
"I'm not going to vote for anybody who has been tainted or associated with steroids," Hal Bodley of MLB.com said. "I'm just not going to do it. I might change down the road, but I just love the game too much. I have too much passion for the game and for what these people did to it."
Washington Examiner columnist Thom Loverro explained in a column why he will not vote for them.
"No one would dare say that Bonds, a seven-time National League MVP with 762 home runs, isn't a Hall of Famer," he wrote. "Nor would anyone say that Clemens, with 354 career victories, 4,672 strikeouts and seven Cy Young Awards, shouldn't be enshrined in Cooperstown. The same goes for Sosa, who finished with 609 career home runs, including 243 of them from 1998 through 2001.
"Except they cheated -- all of them. And this Hall of Fame is not just about numbers. Three of the six criteria for election to Cooperstown are sportsmanship, integrity and character. Bonds, Sosa and Clemens fail on all three counts."
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Bruce Jenkins wrote in an e-mail to ESPN.com that he will vote in favor of the players to be enshrined.
"The Hall of Fame's 'character' clause should be stricken immediately, because it's far too late to turn Cooperstown into a church," he wrote. "Whether it was gambling (rampant in the early 20th century), scuffing the baseballs, corking bats, amphetamines or steroids, players have been cheating like crazy forever. It's an integral, if unsavory, part of the culture. I've always had the same criteria: which players were the best performers of their particular era -- so absolutely, I'll vote for Bonds, Clemens and Sosa."
Bonds, Clemens and Sosa have denied using PEDs.
