Hall of Fame balloting for Class of 2022 trending toward one inductee: David Ortiz

It looks like the end of the road for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in terms of the Hall of Fame ballot.

And the beginning of a long road to nowhere for Alex Rodriguez.

The three all-time greats are expected to fall short of election into Cooperstown when results of balloting by the eligible members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America are announced at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

For Bonds and Clemens, it’s their 10th and final year on the BBWAA ballot. For A-Rod, it’s his first of up to 10 years on the ballot.

No one can argue with the statistical credentials of this trio. Bonds is baseball’s all-time home run king. Clemens is one of the greatest pitchers ever. Rodriguez is one of the most talented players the game has ever seen.

But all three have been tainted by alleged or proved performance-enhancing drug use.

As of 6 p.m. Monday, Bonds (77.5%) and Clemens (76.5%) had been named on more than the required 75% of publicly available ballots as tabulated by Ryan Thibodaux. But only 47.7% of the ballots had been revealed; vote percentages always go down once all the ballots are counted.

Rodriguez had been named on 40.1% of public ballots as of 6 p.m. Monday.

The only player who has a chance to be elected on Tuesday is former Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (84.5)%.

Ortiz has been linked to steroids, too, as he was reported to have failed an anonymous survey drug test in 2003.

Ortiz has denied he ever took steroids, and enough voters seem to have given him the benefit of the doubt. Ortiz would be the first player voted into the Hall by the BBWAA since Derek Jeter and Larry Walker in 2020.

Another controversial figure who is expected to fall short of 75% in his last year on the ballot is former Red Sox World Series hero Curt Schilling, who was at 61.0% after finishing with 71.7% in 2021.

After that vote, Schilling asked the Hall of Fame to remove his name from the ballot. The Hall declined, and Schilling has garnered less support this year because of his outspoken right-wing political views, which included apparent support of the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. That was not factored into the 2021 voting, which was done in late 2020.

Sammy Sosa, another steroid-tainted slugger, also will end his 10th year on the ballot without getting into Cooperstown. Sosa was on 24.6% of public ballots as of Monday.

Any player who doesn’t make it after 10 years on the BBWAA ballot still can get a second look by one of the Hall’s era committees. Those committees, however, are stocked with former players who are likely to treat players with a steroid-tinged past more harshly than the writers did.

There are some very good players who seem to be getting closer to election on the writers’ ballots. Scott Rolen (70.1%), Todd Helton (57.8%) and Andruw Jones (49.7%) are poised to make gains from their 2021 totals.

Locally, former Mets closer Billy Wagner (49.2%), former Mets and Yankees slugger Gary Sheffield (48.1%), former Mets infielder Jeff Kent (31.0%), former Yankees outfielder Bobby Abreu (10.7%) and former Yankees lefthander Andy Pettitte (10.7%) are below the 75% line. Sheffield and Pettitte have their own admitted PED pasts.

Omar Vizquel, whose candidacy peaked in 2020 at 52.6%, has cratered to 11.2%. Vizquel has been accused of domestic violence by his then-wife and of sexual harassment by a former minor-league batboy. He has denied the allegations.

First-time candidate Mark Teixeira is at 0.5%. Any players who finish below 5% will fall off next year’s ballot.

The top new candidate on the 2023 ballot will be former Met and Yankee Carlos Beltran, who has a different kind of scandal on his resume. Beltran is accused of being one of the masterminds of the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal from 2017, an allegation that cost him his job as Mets manager in January 2020 before he helmed a single game.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.