Three Players Elected To Baseball's Hall Of Fame As Steroids Continue To Hurt Other Candidates
Maddux was named on 97.2% of the ballots, the eighth-highest percentage of all time. Tom Seaver in 1992 and Nolan Ryan in 1999 were both named on 98.8% of the ballots. Glavine (91.9%) and Thomas (83.7%) were the only others to be named on at least 75% of the ballots, the requirement for enshrinement.
Craig Biggio, who was in his second year of eligibility, just missed election, appearing on 427 of the 571 ballots (74.8%). Biggio would have needed just two more votes to be elected to the Hall of Fame this year.
Once again, none of the players linked to steroids, or even rumored to have used performance-enhancing drugs, came close to election. This includes Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa.
The other big question mark this year was Jack Morris, who was in his final year of eligibility. He was named on just 61.5% of the ballots, down from 67.7% a year ago.
These are the first players elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in two years as nobody received the necessary 75% of votes last year.