Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens see big jump in Hall of Fame votes

From the looks of things, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens might just get into the Hall of Fame one day. That day wasn’t Wednesday, as results of the 2017 ballot were released and Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez were the only players to reach the necessary 75 percent for induction.

But both Bonds and Clemens reached a new high, topping 50 percent for the first time in their five years on the ballot. Bonds finished at 53.8 percent with Clemens at 54.1.

It was expected that Clemens and Bonds would see a jump in their vote totals this year, the question was how much. For Bonds, this is a 9.5 percent increase, up from 44.3 percent a year ago. For Clemens, it’s a rise of 8.9 percent, up from 45.2 percent.

How voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America reconcile the steroid era continues to be the best subplot on the Hall of Fame ballot. To some people, it’s even more of the main event than which players get enshrined. Bonds and Clemens remain the most debated, most contentious and most divisive players on the ballot, and it’ll be that way until they’re either elected or their 10 years on the ballot are up.

The increased vote total this year could be attributed to a few things:

• Bud Selig was voted in by a veterans committee in December. To a number of writers looking for clarity on how to handle the steroid era, that sent a signal that the Hall of Fame was ready to take the best from that era, warts and all. Now, Selig’s case is different than that of Bonds and Clemens, but he presided over that era of baseball, so the thinking goes: If he’s worthy of Cooperstown, why not one of the best hitters and one of the best pitchers of all-time?

• Selig or otherwise, the opinions about the steroid era seem to be shifting. Whether that’s because Mike Piazza — one of the PED “suspects” according to more conservative voters — got in last year, because of Selig or because of something else, voters were more favorable toward Bonds and Clemens this year. Among the ballots that were made public before Wednesday’s announcement, both players had gained upward of 20 votes from people who didn’t vote for them last year.

• The electorate is changing. The BBWAA has aimed to take ballots away from writers who aren’t actively covering the game anymore. At the same time, current writers are getting their Hall of Fame votes as they reach 10 years in the BBWAA. This means the shift in thinking is very real, as the older voters have traditionally been more steadfast in their refusal of the steroid era and younger voters are more accepting of it.

Now, here’s a look at how the voting has shifted over the years for Bonds and Clemens, plus Sammy Sosa, who isn’t close to either of those guys but is at least staying on the ballot for another year after getting 8.6 percent, more than the necessary five percent.

Manny Ramirez, in his first year on the ballot, earned 23.8 percent of the vote. While his numbers make him every bit a Hall of Famer, his connection to PEDs is different from Bonds and Clemens in that he has failed tests and a suspension on his record.

Figuring out how to handle Manny — and A-Rod, eventually — is the next great question for Hall of Fame voters once they sort out Bonds and Clemens.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz