Fernando Valenzuela’s Hall of Fame Bid Falls Short

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Fernando Valenzuela failed to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in voting by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee in Orlando, Florida.

The late Dodger pitching star received less than five votes Sunday from the 16-member committee which consisted of seven Hall of Famers, six baseball executives, including Angels owner Artie Moreno and former Dodger assistant general manager Kim Ng, and three veteran media members or historians.

Career home-run leader Barry Bonds, seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens and Gary Sheffield also received less than five votes. Their specific totals were not announced.

Bonds and Clemens have long been dogged by allegations they used performance-enhancing drugs.

Valenzuela and the other player candidates who received fewer than five votes are not eligible for consideration by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee when it next meets in 2028, meaning they won’t get another opportunity to be elected to the Hall of Fame until 2031 at the earliest.

Candidates needed 12 votes — 75% of the committee — to be elected.

The voting was held in connection with baseball’s winter meetings, which are being held in Orlando.

This was the first time Valenzuela was on a Hall of Fame ballot since 2004 when he received 3.8% of the votes from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and was dropped from their future ballots because he received votes from less than 5% of the electorate.

Valenzuela received votes from 6.2% of the writers when he was first on the ballot in 2003.

Jeff Kent was the only candidate elected, receiving 14 votes, 87.5%.

Kent was born in Bellflower and raised in Huntington Beach, graduating from Edison High School. He played for the Dodgers for the final four seasons of his 17-seeason major league career.

Kent’s 351 home runs while playing second base are a major league record.

Kent will be inducted to the Hall of Fame on July 26 along with any electees who emerge from the baseball writers voting, which will be announced Jan. 20.