For the First Time in 8 Years, No New Players Were Voted Into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021

Naledi Ushe
·2 min read

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The Baseball Writers' Association of America will elect no players into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021 — marking the organization's first shutout since 2013.

In order for players to be elected by the BBWAA, 75 percent of votes in their favor are needed from the organization's eligible members.

This year, 401 ballots were submitted, meaning 301 votes were needed for MLB players to make the cut. A record number of 14 ballots were blank, the Hall of Fame revealed in a press release.

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Three players in their ninth year of eligibility were close to earning the necessary votes, including Curt Schilling, who was just 16 shy of the required number with 285 votes.

Barry Bonds earned 248 and Roger Clemens earned 247. Scott Rolen, who has been on the ballot for four years, earned 212.

Schilling, 54, has said he "will not participate in the final year of voting."

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The former Red Sox player — who has found himself in hot water over the last several years for controversial social media posts — said he would "defer to the veterans committee" on the matter.

"I will not participate in the final year of voting. I am requesting to be removed from the ballot," Schilling wrote in a letter to the Hall that he shared on Facebook Tuesday. "I'll defer to the veterans committee and men whose opinions actually matter and who are in a position to actually judge a player. I don't think I'm a hall of famer as I've often stated but if former players think I am then I'll accept that with honor."

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The last year the BBWAA didn't elect anyone to be inducted into the Hall of Fame was 2013. It's the ninth time in BBWAA voting history that the rare outcome has occurred, according to the Hall of Fame. No one was elected in 1945, 1950, 1958, 1960, 1965, 1971 or 1996.

Though no new players were voted in this year, four MLB legends will be inducted in 2021 after the 2020 ceremony was postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In July, the Hall of Fame will induct Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons, and the late Marvin Miller.