Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds Highlight Hall of Fame Ballot

The day that every baseball purist fears is rapidly approaching. We all knew it would be here one day, but in the back of our collective mind, we hoped that it would just implode somehow to be never thought of again. That day which I am speaking of is the day that many of the big names from Major League Baseball’s Steroid Era became eligible for voting into baseball’s holy grail: the Hall of Fame.

One of them four big names wrapped up amongst allegations of usage of performance enhancing drugs, Mark McGuire, has been on the ballot for six years and now the other big three–Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa–will all join him on the ballot for the first time.

Bonds is the MLB all-time home run leader with 762, Clemens has won a record seven Cy Young Awards and Sosa is just one of eight players in the history of Major League Baseball to hit more than 600 home runs (609). All three could find themselves on the outside looking in at the rest of the MLB’s all-time greatest players due to their link with Steroids and other PEDs.

There are 24 total first time players on the ballot and some of the more notable ones include Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling and Mike Piazza.

All candidates must gain 75 percent of the voting in order for induction into the hall next year. Voting will take place on Jan. 9 while the actual induction ceremony is scheduled for July 28.