Former Cubs superhero Sammy Sosa slugged 609 home runs in the big leagues but went 0-for-10 with his name on the Hall of Fame ballot.
Never did he come remotely close to receiving the blessing of the Baseball Writers Association of America electorate.
On Tuesday, in his 10th and final year on the ballot, Sosa, a seven-time All-Star, received 18.5% of the vote — miles beneath the 75% threshold required for induction. He did barely top his high of 17% in 2021.
More than anyone else’s candidacies, those of Sosa and Mark McGwire — his partner in the cartoonish home run chase of 1998 — have been utterly sunk by ties to the steroid era. McGwire topped out at 23.7% of the vote and was at only 12.3% by 2016, his final year on the ballot.
David Ortiz was the lone player elected by the BBWAA to the 2022 class. A 10-time All-Star and three-time World Series winner who hit 541 home runs, Ortiz made it through with 77.9% of the vote in his first time on the ballot.
Also in Year 10, Barry Bonds (66%) and Roger Clemens (65.2%) fell short again. Their fates, along with Curt Schilling’s, Sosa’s and others’, now are in the hands of the Hall’s era committees (formerly known the veterans committee). The Today’s Game committee will be responsible for elections of non-ballot players to the class of 2023.
The Hall’s era committees already have elected six new Hall of Famers for the 2022 class: Minnie Minoso, Buck O’Neil, Bud Fowler, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva and Gil Hodges.
