(Reuters) – Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, whose legacies were tainted by allegations of steroid use, were given another chance at making the Baseball Hall of Fame after being among the eight players named on Monday to the Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot.
Any candidate who receives votes on 75% of the ballots cast by the 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee on Dec. 4 will earn election to the Hall of Fame in 2023.
The committee, which focuses on the period from 1980 to the present day, considers retired Major League Baseball players who are no longer eligible for election by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA).
In January, Bonds and Clemens both failed to reach the 75% threshold needed for induction in their 10th and final year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot. Bonds earned support from 66% of the vote while Clemens received 65.2%.
Bonds is baseball’s all-time home run leader and Clemens is one of the game’s most dominant pitchers but despite on-field accomplishments that exceed Hall of Fame standards many voters soured on them due to performance-enhancing drug allegations.
Both Bonds, who has long denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs, and Clemens, who has maintained that he never used them, have at no time tested positive for a banned substance or received discipline from MLB.
The other candidates on the Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot are Albert Belle, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
