Despite their obvious numbers, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have been barred from entering the Baseball Hall of Fame. This is due to longstanding allegations of steroid use. However, there have been times when they have been featured on the ballot.
On Monday, Bonds and Clemens were once again featured on the Contemporary Baseball Era committee’s ballot, per the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. They were mentioned along with six other players including Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela.
It is a committee of players that made significant contributions to the game since 1980. The objective of the committee is to chose which players from that time period are Hall of Fame worthy.
Every three years, the committee meets. Each candidate must receive five ballot votes to be eligble. After Pete Rose’s posthumous reinstatment for eligibility to the Hall of Fame, Bonds and Clemens were floated around as next in line.
The steroid saga of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens
Out of all of these, Bonds and Clemens are deemed the most controversial. In 2003, Bonds was the subject of a federal investigation into the California based drug company BALCO, which supplied undectetable performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to high profile athletes.
Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson was a promient figure in the investigation who had provided Bonds with PEDs provided by BALCO. During a grand jury testimony, Bonds admitted to using a cream substance provided by Anderson, but did so without knowledge of what it was or where it came from.
Later on, court documents provided evidence of Bonds’ use of PEDS. They included positive tests and an injection calander provided by Anderson. In 2007, Bonds was indicted on charges of perjury and obstrcution of justice for lying during a grand jury testimony. Four years later, he was convicted on one felony count of perjury, which would later be overturned in 2015.
In 2007, Clemens was accused of PED use by his former trainer Brian McNamee, who provided testimony to Senator George Mitchell. It was later published in the so-called Mitchell Report.
McNamee provided evidence that claimed Clemens had used steroids from 1998-2001. During that stretch, Clemens was pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. In 2008, Clemens denied steroid use during a Congressional tesitmony. However, McNamee stuck to his story during the same hearing.
In 2010, Clemens was charged on six counts of perjury, false statements, and obstruction to Congress. Two years later, he was acquitted on all charges.