Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent have another shot at Cooperstown.
Bonds and Kent, one of the greatest duos in franchise history, are both on this year’s eight-player Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot and will have another shot at being voted into the Hall of Fame.
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The 16-person era committee will meet on Dec. 7 during MLB’s winter meetings in Orlando, Florida and the results will be announced at 4:30 p.m. PST on MLB Network. Candidates must receive at least 75 percent of the vote for election.
This year’s ballot also includes Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Carlos Delgado, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela. Along with Bonds and Kent, broadcaster Duane Kuiper is once again on the ballot for the Ford C. Frick Award.
Bonds, the all-time and single-season home run leader, was on the last contemporary era ballot in December 2022 and received fewer than four votes, well short of the 12 needed for election. This came after Bonds fell short of being elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in January 2022 (he was named on 66 percent of the ballots) during his 10th and final year of consideration.
Kent, the 2000 NL MVP who owns the record for most homers hit by a second baseman, also spent 10 seasons on the ballot and fell short of election, peaking at receiving 46.5% of the vote in his final year.
Bonds, without question, boasts one of the best résumés in baseball history, one that features seven MVPs, eight Gold Glove Awards, 12 Silver Slugger Awards and 14 All-Star selections. Despite his accomplishments, Bonds and many other superstars have been held out of the Hall of Fame due to their links to performance-enhancing drugs.
There have been no shortage of writers who have invoked the Hall of Fame’s “Character Clause,” which states that players “shall be chosen on the basis of playing ability, sportsmanship, character, their contribution to the teams on which they played and to baseball in general.” Bonds has denied knowingly using PEDs.
Each era committee meets once every three years, and the next contemporary era ballot will be in December 2028.
The Hall of Fame announced last March that any candidate who doesn’t receive at least five votes won’t be eligible for that committee’s ballot in the next three-year cycle. If a candidate fails to receive at least five votes in multiple appearances on a committee ballot, that candidate will be barred from future ballots.
