Bonds misses HOF in final year on ballot

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds remains shut out of the Hall of Fame, with one path to Cooperstown officially reaching a dead end on Tuesday night.

Bonds, arguably the greatest hitter in baseball history, drew 66 percent of the vote in his 10th and final year on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot, falling well short of the 75-percent threshold required for induction.

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Still, Tuesday’s results didn’t definitively end Bonds’ Hall of Fame bid. He will now be eligible for the Today’s Game Era ballot, which considers candidates who made their greatest contributions to the game from 1988-2016. The Today's Game Era Committee -- which is slated to meet in December -- is one of four 16-person committees charged with providing an avenue to Cooperstown for managers, umpires and executives, as well as players who have fallen off the BBWAA ballot.

Former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was the lone candidate elected by the BBWAA this year and will be honored alongside the six men voted in by the Golden Days and Early Baseball Era committees -- Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva, and the late Bud Fowler, Gil Hodges, Minnie Miñoso and Buck O’Neil -- at the 2022 Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 24 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Bonds, who received a small bump from the 61.8 percent he drew in 2021, possesses the credentials to merit enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, but he’s viewed as a polarizing figure due to his ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Roger Clemens, who has been dogged by similar accusations, also remained on the outside looking in as his BBWAA ballot eligibility came to a close this year.

Bonds spent 15 of his 22 seasons in the Majors with the Giants and owns the all-time record for career home runs (762), single-season homers (73 in 2001), walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688). He hit .312/.477/.666 over 1,976 games with the Giants, winning five of his seven National League Most Valuable Player Awards in San Francisco. A 14-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner, Bonds is the only player to hit 500 home runs and steal 500 bases.

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Second baseman Jeff Kent, Bonds’ former Giants teammate, garnered 32.7 percent in his penultimate year on the ballot, nearly identical to the 32.4 percent he received in 2021. Acquired from Cleveland as part of the Matt Williams trade in 1996, Kent hit .297/.368/.535 over his six seasons with the Giants and won the NL MVP Award in 2000. A five-time All-Star, Kent finished his career with 377 home runs, including a record 351 as a second baseman.

Support for Omar Vizquel, who won the final two of his 11 Gold Glove Awards during his four-season tenure with the Giants, nosedived from 49.1 percent in 2021 to 23.9 percent this year after his ex-wife, Blanca, accused the Venezuelan shortstop of domestic violence.

Former Giants ace Tim Lincecum drew 2.3 percent in his first year of eligibility, falling short of the 5 percent needed to remain on the BBWAA ballot. “The Freak” won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2008 and ’09, earned three World Series rings and tossed two no-hitters over his nine seasons in San Francisco, though longevity issues ultimately prevented him from making a serious bid for a spot in the Hall of Fame.