SF Giants: Bonds again denied in Baseball Hall of Fame voting

For the 10th consecutive year, SF Giants fans and many others went into January's announcement of the Baseball Hall of Fame voting results hoping Barry Bonds would get the green light for entry into Cooperstown.

And for the 10th consecutive year, those hopes were dashed.

As announced Tuesday evening, the electorate from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) selected only one player from a ballot of 30 (including eight former Giants) for this summer's induction ceremony, and it was former Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.

Ortiz, in his first year of eligibility, was named on 307 of the 394 votes cast by members of the BBWAA with at least 10 years in the organization, clearing the 75% threshold needed for election by just 2.9%.

A designated hitter for most of his career, Ortiz swatted 541 career home runs with a .286 batting average, racking up 55.3 bWAR. The 10-time All-Star was key in the Red Sox breaking the "Curse of the Bambino" by winning the 2004 World Series, as he earned ALCS MVP with three home runs as Boston came back from a 3-0 series deficit just to reach the Series. He was also instrumental in the Red Sox championships in 2007 and 2013; for his career, he batted .455 in 14 World Series games with three home runs and 14 RBI.

Bonds snubbed despite best vote total yet

Entering the announcement, the expectation was that Bonds and Roger Clemens would settle in around the 60% mark, as they had for the past three years, and miss enshrinement in the 10th and final year on the ballot. However, both received a small bump in results on ballots that weren't released prior to the announcement. It is unknown what influenced the voters who included them on the final try - maybe the December 30 opinion piece from a former federal investigator in the BALCO scandal saying they deserved to be elected made a small difference - but Bonds garnered 260 votes for 66% and Clemens came in at 65.2% thanks to 257 votes.

Both players, along with Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa - have fallen off the ballot and will hope a smaller committee of writers, former players and executives look more kindly on their cases in the years to come (possibly later this year).

Other former Giants on the ballot were Jeff Kent (32.7%), Omar Vizquel (23.9%), Joe Nathan (4.3%), Tim Hudson (3%), Tim Lincecum (2.3%), A.J. Pierzynski (0.5%) and Jake Peavy (no votes).