Gwynn and Ripken Elected to Hall, McGwire Snubbed
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James Joyner | Tuesday, January 9, 2007 |
Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. were first ballot electees to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mark McGwire, on the other hand,
Mark McGwire fell far short in his first try for the Hall of Fame, picked by 23.5 percent of voters while Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. easily gained baseball’s highest honor.
Tarnished by accusations of steroid use, McGwire appeared on 128 of a record 545 ballots in voting released Tuesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Ripken was picked by 537 voters, appearing on 98.5 percent of ballots, falling just short of the record percentage of 98.84 set by Tom Seaver when he was selected on 425 of 430 ballots in 1992.
Gwynn was just behind with 532 votes, 97.6 percent.
Goose Gossage was third with 71.2 percent of the vote, falling just short of the 75 percent needed.
That McGwire got so few votes while Gwynn got so many is a joke. McGwire broke no rules and, indeed, was never caught using any banned substance.
Then again, a lot of perennial All-Star players came in behind McGwire in the balloting:
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