2017 Baseball Hall of Fame Results: Manny Ramirez gets little support in first year – CBSSports.com

On Wednesday night, the BBWAA revealed its latest round of Hall of Fame voting results. Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez each earned enough of the vote to merit induction into Cooperstown this summer.

One player who did not earn induction — or much in the way of votes — was Manny Ramirez.

Best known for his time with the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox, Ramirez’s first year on the ballot ended with him receiving roughly 24 percent of the vote — or significantly less than former teammate Curt Schilling. That comparison makes sense for reasons beyond shared clubhouses, too. Ramirez, like Schilling, is a controversial figure — due mostly to his connection to performance-enhancing drugs and his at-times aloof behavior.

Yet unlike Schilling, Ramirez is a statistical slam-dunk Hall of Famer. Ramirez, after all, finished his 19-season career with 555 home runs and a 154 OPS+. He never won a Most Valuable Player Award, but he made 12 All-Star Games and earned nine Silver Slugger Awards. Even accepting that 500 home runs is no longer the magic number it used to be, Ramirez was one of the best hitters of his generation. You don’t have to buy into advanced metrics to appreciate his case — although those state that Ramirez had a better career than the average left fielder already inducted … and that includes his poor defense.

Perhaps Ramirez’s low vote percentage is just proof of how voters will treat those with a positive PED test (or multiple positive tests, as it is). Both Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have been the subjects of much speculation, yet each opened their eligibility by receiving more than 30 percent of the vote. Heck, Schilling is probably the most controversial player on the ballot for reasons other than steroids, and he’s yet to finish lower than 29 percent. Ramirez, then, is in an awkward spot. He’s a seeming Hall of Famer who’s being treated like anything but — even when compared to his similarly troubled contemporaries.

So, will Ramirez ever earn enshrinement? You’d have to think so. As Dayn Perry suggested, Bud Selig’s induction figures to help ease voters’ consciences when it comes to marking known users’ names. Still, Wednesday didn’t provide a lot of reason for optimism for those hoping to attend a Ramirez induction speech anytime soon.