Is Barry Bonds involved? What about A-Rod? Discard the 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot

Welcome to the Hall of Fame ballot devised by Stephen King, George RR Martin, and Beelzebub. This is the final appearance on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Curt Schilling – and the first for Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. There are other attractive holders hoping to move closer to storage – Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield are still around – and other intriguing newcomers for voters to consider.

With Official ballots are distributed on Monday, let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from the 2022 election. Remember the fundamentals:

• Voters can vote for up to 10 players.

• Players need 75% for the election – no rounding; 74.9% don’t put you in.

• Players need at least 5% to continue voting.

• Ballots must be postmarked by December 31, with results announced by January 25.

Schilling led all players last year with 71.8% of the vote, the first time BBWAA has shut down since 2013 and only the fourth since 1966. Since the previous time, BBWAA has voted. 21 players over a seven-year period, a relative rage by historical standards. PED-induced logging that cramped votes for a while and made voting more difficult has mostly been removed, which has helped previous candidates like Tim Raines, Edgar Martinez and Larry Walker in recent years and will help some of this year’s candidates also get close to the election.

However, much of the discussion at the Hall of Fame next month will focus on three of PED’s all-time greats and an on-field star with plenty of controversy off the pitch.

OK, this is it for Bonds, Clemens and Schilling. Can any of them get in?