Cooperstown, NY

The latest election for entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame ended in futility with no players from a ballot of 37 candidates given the chance to secure his place in Cooperstown.

MLB slugging legend Barry Bonds, pitching great Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and other players associated with performance enhancing drugs all failed to get the nod to enter the Hall of Fame while top vote-getter Craig Biggio collected just 68.7 percent, just 39 votes shy of booking his spot in Cooperstown.

It marked the first time since 1996 and second since 1971 that eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America did not vote even a single player into the Hall of Fame.

Despite the stellar numbers of most of the first-time eligible players, the fact that their careers took place in a period tainted by the use of performance-enhancing drugs apparently made it hard for writers to vote for them.

"Writers have had a lot of consternation [this year] about who they decided to pick and this made it one of the most talked about classes in history," Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson said Wednesday.

Idelson said the journey of these PED-associated players to secure their place in baseball's prestigious Hall has just begun and it may be hard for them to enter next year with named like Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Mike Mussina and Jeff Kent becoming Hall eligible next year.

"I think we have to remember that a snap shot in time is not one ballot, but 15, the most times a player can appear on the ballot. And for some of the people on this ballot that journey is just beginning," Idelson added.

Steroid-tainted stars Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa have been denied entry to baseball's Hall of Fame with voters failing to elect any candidates for only the second time in four decades

Copyright © 2013 AHN - All Rights Reserved