Barry Bonds And Roger Clemens Fail To Get Elected To Hall Of Fame In Final Year Of Eligibility

Only weeks after former Senator George Mitchell’s report on baseball’s doping history was released in December 2007, former Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens held a press conference in Houston, Texas with his attorney Rusty Hardin.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young award winner and former MVP, used the occasion to further deny the claims in the Mitchell Report, which named him as a user of performance-enhancing drugs during his major league career. At the conclusion of the Houston press conference, Clemens had a brief Q&A with the assembled media, and became irate when the subject of the Baseball Hall of Fame was broached.

“You think that I played my career because I’m worried about the damn Hall of Fame?” Clemens said at that January 2008 press conference. “I could give a rat’s a— about that also. If you have a vote and it’s because of this, you keep your vote. I don’t need the Hall of Fame to justify that I put my butt on the line and I worked my tail off.”

Over a decade after he made those comments, Clemens doesn’t have to worry about the “damn Hall of Fame” anymore — in his final year of eligibility on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot, Clemens didn’t receive the necessary 75% vote needed for election to Cooperstown. His baseball contemporary, home run king Barry Bonds, whose career is also shrouded in PED controversy, also failed to gain election in his final year on the ballot.

Only former Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz was elected by the writers when the Hall of Fame results were announced Tuesday.

For Clemens and Bonds, the 10-year Cooperstown debate comes to an unofficial close — the two men could still be elected by a Veterans Committee in the future — and once again brings the PED conversation front and center.

Both Bonds and Clemens played during the “Steroid Era,” which encompasses both a stretch when there was no drug-testing program in Major League Baseball and after one was implemented, starting in 2004. Clemens and Bonds last played in the majors in 2007.

Clemens’ chief accuser was his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, who had interviewed with Mitchell with the understanding that he “faced criminal jeopardy if he made any false statements,” according to one portion of the Mitchell Report. Bonds was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the BALCO steroids trafficking case.

Bonds, 57, and Clemens, 59, both went to trial in federal court on charges of perjury and obstruction. Bonds was convicted on only one count (obstruction of justice), and that conviction was later overturned. Clemens was acquitted on all counts in his 2012 trial.

“All you media guys that know me and followed my career…” a tearful Clemens said outside the Washington D.C. federal courthouse after his acquittal, before pausing for 23 seconds. “I put a lot of hard work into that career.”

Still, the jury verdicts and Bonds’ overturned conviction did little to sway many baseball writers’ minds when it came time to consider Bonds’ and Clemens’ Hall of Fame candidacies. In their last chance for election, Bonds garnered 66% of the vote while Clemens received 65.2%, according to the official BBWAA results. Both men inched up only slightly in percentage points from last year’s results.

Bonds, in addition to slugging a career 762 home runs, won seven MVP awards. Clemens won 354 games and had 4,672 strikeouts. They still have all of the awards and records to their names, but no Hall of Fame plaque. While a representative for Bonds did not return a message for comment, Clemens took to Twitter to post a statement about his reaction to the Hall snub. His remarks are not all that different from those he made in 2008.

“Hey y’all! I figured I’d give y’all a statement since it’s that time of the year again,” Clemens posted Tuesday night on his official Twitter account. “My family and I put the HOF in the rear view mirror ten years ago. I didn’t play baseball to get into the HOF. I played to make a generational difference in the lives of my family. Then focus on winning championships while giving back to my community and the fans as well.

“It was my passion. I gave it all I had, the right way, for my family and for the fans who supported me. I am grateful for that support. I would like to thank those who took the time to look at the facts and vote for me. Hopefully everyone can now close this book and keep their eyes forward focusing on what is really important in life. All love!”