Baseball's Hall of Fame will have only one new member next summer, former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin. Larkin received 86.4% percent of the vote, easily eclipsing the 75% percent necessary for induction. Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell and Lee Smith were the only other players to even receive more than 50% percent of the vote.
↵Two former prominent Texas Rangers received votes this year: Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez. Both Palmeiro and Gonzalez were alleged by Jose Canseco to be steroid users. Palmeiro, of course, was suspended by Major League Baseball for steroid usage in 2005, just months after denying steroid usage in front of Congress.
↵Only allegations have surfaced against Gonzalez, though, and nothing has been proven against him. Gonzalez finished his career with two MVP awards, 434 home runs with a .904 OPS and 132 OPS+.
↵Palmeiro's career finished without an MVP award to his credit, but he did belt 569 home runs and also had a 132 OPS+. Palmeiro is also a member of the 3,000 hit club, finishing with 3,020 hits.
↵Palmeiro finished with 12.6% of the vote, while Gonzalez finished with just 4%. Gonzalez will now fall off the ballot as five percent is needed to remain on.
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