In 10th and final year, no Hall call for Clemens

TORONTO -- Four former Blue Jays fell short of induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, led by Roger Clemens, who won the AL Cy Young Award in each of his two dominant seasons with Toronto.

David Ortiz is the lone 2022 inductee, having earned 77.9 percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility. One of baseball’s best clutch hitters, Ortiz won three World Series rings with the Red Sox and hit 541 home runs over 20 MLB seasons. Toronto fans know Ortiz all too well, as Big Papi hit 62 home runs with a .931 OPS over 251 career games against the Blue Jays.

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Clemens, who received 65.2 percent of votes and fell short of the 75 percent threshold, was in his 10th and final year on the ballot, along with Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa. This isn’t the end for their candidacy, though, as each could be considered by the Hall of Fame’s Era committees.

Although Clemens is rarely held up among the Blue Jays’ greats, his 1997 and 1998 seasons are the best from a pitcher in this organization. After signing a four-year, $40 million deal with the Blue Jays, Clemens put up a 2.05 ERA with 292 strikeouts over 264 innings in ’97, then came right back with a 2.65 ERA and 271 strikeouts over 234 2/3 innings the next season. That was good for two Cy Young Awards and two All-Star Game nods, even if none of it resulted in a postseason berth for the Blue Jays.

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The timing made sense for the Blue Jays, though, regardless of the results. At 34, Clemens was coming off a pair of seasons with the Red Sox that would look fine on most pitchers, but were down years for the right-hander, who already owned three Cy Young Awards and an AL MVP Award. The Blue Jays were also just a few years removed from their World Series runs of 1992 and 1993, so there was an urgency to return to the top.

An unhappy Clemens eventually demanded a trade, however, and landed with the division-rival Yankees for a package of David Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd. The right-hander pitched until he was 44 (2007) and won 354 games with a career ERA of 3.12 and 4,672 strikeouts, but was later connected to PEDs.

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Elsewhere on the ballot, Mark Buehrle received 5.8 percent of votes. The left-hander who for 16 seasons was one of baseball’s steadiest presences pitched for three seasons in Toronto (2013-’15) to end his career. He came over in a blockbuster from the Marlins prior to the 2013 season, and although that didn’t immediately catapult the Blue Jays into World Series contention as many had envisioned, he gave Toronto a 3.78 ERA over 604 1/3 innings. A five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner, Buehrle also has a 2005 World Series ring with the White Sox.

Scott Rolen earned 63.2 percent of votes, up from 52.9 percent last year. Acquired for Troy Glaus in early 2008, Rolen was eventually dealt to the Reds at the 2009 Trade Deadline for a package that included Edwin Encarnación, who would become one of the all-time great Blue Jays hitters. Omar Vizquel, who played 60 games with the Blue Jays in 2012, his final of 24 MLB seasons, received 23.9 percent of votes.

Roy Halladay (2019) and Roberto Alomar (2011) remain the only two Hall of Fame inductees to enter with the Blue Jays as their primary team. Other former Blue Jays in the Hall are Jack Morris (2018), manager Bobby Cox (2014), Frank Thomas (2014), Rickey Henderson (2009), Paul Molitor (2004), Dave Winfield (2001) and Phil Niekro (1997).