Another Baseball Hall of Fame voting update has been provided by Ryan Thibodaux and his ballot trackers. It gives a really interesting insight into which players are now on pace for induction this year.
Each year, Thibodaux has been collecting ballots that have been made public in order to give a look at how the induction could play out at Cooperstown. That tradition has continued this year, with writers revealing early votes.
Derek Jeter induction ceremony
It’s been a foregone conclusion that this is the Derek Jeter Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony. With 49 ballots now revealed, he has still received 100 percent of the vote. The only question will be whether or not other players on the ballot join him during the 2020 induction in Cooperstown.
In the latest update, the voting indicates that Curt Schilling, Larry Walker, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens could all join him on the stage. A player needs to appear on 75 percent of the ballots submitted by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).
There have been ??,??? MLB players.
Larry Walker (??.?) has the ???? highest Wins Above Replacement ever, ???? all-time among outfielders.
Let that #WalkerHOF perspective sink in… pic.twitter.com/Kt8TLZwsKN
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) December 21, 2019
So far, Walker is at 85.7 percent of the ballots, Schilling is at 81.6 percent, Bonds is at 75.6 percent, and Clemens is also at 75.6 percent. They would all make the cut if the current trend of voting were to continue. That would be a huge deal, especially with how many times these four players have already appeared on the ballot.
Last year, Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay, and Mike Mussina made the cut. Schilling finished with 60.9 percent, Clemens at 59.5 percent, Bonds at 59.1 percent, and Walker at 54.6 percent.
Those lower numbers for the quartet hoping to join Jeter could be an indication that they will be left off a lot of ballots that have not yet been revealed or submitted this year. A jump of more than 30 percent of the vote for Walker seems very unsustainable, suggesting the real possibility, that again, the four could miss the cut.
A broken bat home run. Barry Bonds was a freak. A Hall of Fame worthy freak.
*Any response mentioning steroids will be ignored pic.twitter.com/Wb0fXRrmto
— Ben Porter (@Ben13Porter) December 19, 2019
There are still a lot of votes left to count, but it’s very interesting to notice how much support that Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are getting in this Baseball Hall of Fame voting update. Can they continue that trend? We will have to pay close attention to find out.