No one voted to baseball’s Hall of Fame this year

No one was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, an indictment of the players who took the field during the so-called Steroid Era.

Outfielder Barry Bonds, pitcher Roger Clemons, infielder/outfielder/catcher Craig Biggio and catcher Mike Piazza were among the candidates eligible for election. However, the specter of steroid use likely turned off member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America with 10 or more consecutive years of Major League Baseball coverage, who elected Hall of Fame members.

“Obviously nobody in Cooperstown was rooting for a shutout,” Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson said during a teleconference. “But, at the same token we have a great respect for the process. As I’ve often said, when you talk about the BBWAA ballot and a snapshot in time, a snapshot in time in that exercise isn’t one year, it’s 15. “

Biggio ended up 39 votes shy of election while Clemons fell 213 votes short. Bonds fared worse and received eight fewer votes than Clemons while Piazza needed 98 more votes for entry into the Hall of Fame.

“We remain very confident and very comfortable with the voting electorate as well as the procedures and guidelines that we give the electorate to consider candidates,” HalJeff Idelson said during a teleconference. “It’s worked incredibly well.

“As I walk through the Hall of Fame Gallery everyday that I’m in Cooperstown, there’s not one plaque that I see in there as the result of a BBWAA election where I say that this person doesn’t belong,” Idelson added. “At the end of the day, the voters who participate show that they do their due diligence, they take the process seriously, and they truly vote their conscience.”