The 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Vote is in. The joke that is the Baseball Writers Association of American has decided to elect one person to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The one player selected by the BBWAA is Red Sox legend David Ortiz. Ortiz received 77.9% of the vote from the writers. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens received the next two highest vote totals at 66% and 65.2% respectively. (For who I would have voted to the Hall of Fame, please see my recent article.)
Don’t get me wrong, I love David Ortiz. As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I have been able to enjoy the spoils of Big Papi’s career. I firmly believe Ortiz deserves his election into the Hall of Fame. Ortiz has the numbers to get voted in, and I can’t wait to watch his induction speech in July. However, it’s a joke that Bonds and Clemens didn’t get in this year.
Why The BBWAA Writers Are A Joke
The sham of the baseball writers to not include players such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens is a joke. Yes, they have a major whiff of PEDs about them (Bonds with BALCO, Clemens with the Jose Canseco allegations). But if the voters are inducting David Ortiz (who was reported to be on the 2003 failed test list), there is no justification that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were not voted in. Bonds is in the argument as the best hitter of all-time, while Clemens is arguably one of the five best pitchers ever. They should have been no-brainers.
Hall of Fame Vote Results Disrespects Helton, Rolen
While we are on the subject of players who deserve to be elected to the Hall, the voters did not show enough respect to Todd Helton and Scott Rolen. Rolen is 9th all-time in WAR amongst third basemen. Rolen is one of the three greatest defensive third basemen of all-time. Yes, he gained 10% of the vote from last year, which is a great sign for eventual induction. He shouldn’t be waiting six years for induction into the Hall of Fame. Just like Rolen, the writers are getting it wrong on Todd Helton. Helton is one of just NINE players in major league history with a .310/.410/.530 slash line. Seven of them are in the Hall of Fame. The ninth is Manny Ramirez, who has a major PED stench on him.
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