Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds miss out on latest chance to enter Baseball Hall of Fame

Jeff Kent has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.

Kent, the 2000 NL MVP winner who played the majority of his career at second base, received 14 of the possible 16 votes from the committee to earn his place in Cooperstown as a part of the Class of 2026.

Kent was the only candidate to receive the necessary 75% of votes from the 16-person committee. The next closest was Carlos Delgado, who received nine of the 16 votes.

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Meanwhile, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Gary Sheffield — all players linked to using performance-enhancing drugs in their careers — each received less than five votes. Fernando Valenzuela, Don Mattingly, and Dale Murphy also did not receive the votes necessary.

Clemens received support from President Donald Trump ahead of the committee's vote.

"Roger Clemens, who won 354 games, went through his own Witch Hunt. HE WAS ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES!!! If he doesn’t get into the Hall of Fame, he should sue the hell out of Major League Baseball!" Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Sunday.

TRUMP GOES TO BAT FOR ROGER CLEMENS' HALL OF FAME CANDIDACY AHEAD OF COMMITTEE VOTE

"It was the Obama DOJ (of course!) that viciously went after the great Roger Clemens. ROGER WAS FULLY ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES!!!"

For Clemens, he fell short in the 2022 election by the committee. He received only 65.2% that year.

When this era ballot was reviewed in December 2022, Fred McGriff was unanimously elected with all 16 votes. Mattingly received eight votes, while Curt Schilling, who was dropped this year from the ballot, received seven. Bonds and Clemens, as well as Rafael Palmeiro, who was dropped along with Schilling, had less than four votes.

In 2008, Clemens found himself embroiled in a federal investigation into the suspected use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) by several prominent major league players.  Clemens testified before Congress that he did not take PEDs and was acquitted of the federal charge of lying to Congress.

Trump had an even longer claim for Clemens on Saturday.

"’The Rocket’ is second only to another All Time GREAT, Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, in most strike-outs. Roger Clemens is the only pitcher who has won 300 games to not have the honor of being enshrined in the Hall of Fame, which is a total travesty! The only reason he is not is because of rumors and innuendo, which were not proven. He never tested positive and, when the Obama DOJ went after him in a criminal case claiming that he did take steroids, Roger, who has always denied taking any drugs, was FULLY ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES. ‘The Rocket,’ a nickname he earned very early in his career because of his blazing fastball, was just as dominant before those erroneous allegations were leveled against him. I sincerely hope that the Committee uses its great judgment (Roger’s opponents never proved a thing against him, and he may have the best pitching record, all told, in the History of Baseball!), and the Baseball Commissioner has the Strength, Wisdom, and Power to do the right thing, and put Roger Clemens in The Baseball Hall of Fame, IMMEDIATELY! Thank you for your attention to this matter," Trump wrote.

Bonds and Clemens would be shoo-ins for the Hall had their careers in MLB not been tainted by the accusations. Bonds and Clemens were both dropped from the BBWAA’s ballot in 2022 after the former received 66% of votes (260 of 394) and the latter secured 65.2% of votes (257). You also need 75% of votes to receive an induction into the Hall.

Bonds, of course, is still MLB’s home run king, having hit 762 over his career, while also holding the single-season home run record (73). He won seven NL MVP Awards, while also making 14 All-Star appearances.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, has the third-most strikeouts in league history with 4,672, only behind Ryan (5,714) and Randy Johnson (4,875).

The regular Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) vote will be announced on Jan. 20, 2026 to round out next year’s class.

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