CHART: Hall Of Fame Prospects Suddenly Look Dim For Several Former Baseball Stars

While much of this year's Hall of Fame voting focus has been on the three players elected, the writer that gave away his vote, and the continued lack of support for players linked to steroids, there are also a number of borderline Hall of Famers whose support took a big hit this year.

Of the players on the ballot, there were six former stars who have been on the ballot at least five years and received at least 58 votes (10%) this year. All six of those players saw their support drop this year. Part of that was due to an unusually crowded ballot this year. But it is also shows that the players that were building momentum may never reach the 75% level needed for enshrinement.

The three players hurt the most this year were Tim Raines, Lee Smith, and Alan Trammell. All three had shown steady increases in support for several years. Smith and Trammell have seen huge drops in the last two years. Meanwhile, Raines appeared to be on track to reaching 75% in the near future but his percentage is now (46.1%) below where it was two years ago (48.7%) and now it looks like a long-shot.

Data via Baseball-Reference.com