Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling Return To Baseball Hall Of Fame Ballot

The National Baseball Hall of Fame released its eight-player Contemporary Baseball Era ballot and it includes some of the sport's most controversial names.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling all appear on the new ballot, which only considers players' impact from 1980 on.

The other eligible players are Don Mattingly, Albert Belle, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, and Rafael Palmeiro.

Roger Clemens may have a chance at finally making the Hall of Fame thanks to the Contemporary Era ballot. (Getty Images)

The16-person Contemporary Baseball Era Players committee -- made up of Hall of Fame players, baseball executives and veteran sportswriters -- will now vote for the inductees. A player needs 12 votes in order to be elected.

In past years, Bonds and Clemens have not been close to being inducted. Both have performance-enhancing drug (PED) allegations against them. However, last year both players received their highest vote tally from the Baseball Writers Association of America, with Bonds receiving 66% and Clemens at 65.2%. The threshold for induction is 75% of the BBWAA vote.

Former Giants slugger Barry Bonds. (Getty Images)

ARE HALL OF FAME VOTERS ABLE TO LOOK PAST THE STEROID ERA?

This past season, Bonds, Clemens and Schilling appeared on the ballot for the 10th and final time. That means any hope of them being enshrined in Cooperstown will rely on the Players Committee ballot.

Although Schilling doesn't have any PED allegations against him, he has come under scrutiny for public comments that he's made against Muslims, transgenders and others. In 2021, after Schilling fell just 16 votes short of being elected, he wrote a letter to the Hall of Fame asking to be removed from the ballot in his final year. However, the Hall denied his request.

The increase in Bonds and Clemens' votes last year may mean there is a shift happening from the old school way of thought, to a more modern day one. As younger sportswriters begin voting and the older generation moves on, we could see a change in how they judge the PED-era.

THE COMMITTEE WILL VOTE ON DEC. 4

When New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge was chasing his 62nd home run this season, the debate started up again if Bonds' 73 homers is the legitimate record. Even though Bonds is not in the Hall of Fame, the number is still in the record books and acknowledged by MLB.

If the stats show Bonds as the legitimate home-run king, one can argue that he should be in the Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport.

We will see on Dec. 4 when the committee votes.