Is It Right To Shun Schilling, Bonds and Clemens From Cooperstown?

For the first time since 2013 no one was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. However, there will still be a ceremony next summer, as the Class of 2020 - highlighted by Derek Jeter - will be enshrined in baseball's most hallowed grounds.

Curt Schilling (71.1%), Barry Bonds (61.8%) and Roger Clemens (61%) each came up short in their ninth year on the ballot, with Schilling missing the cut by just 16 votes.

Bonds and Clemens were notable key figures during MLB's "steroid era" while Schilling's polarizing comments post-retirement are the reason many believe he's been shunned from Cooperstown, as his playing career boasts a worthy resume.

After missing out yet again, Schilling took to social media to post a letter he sent to the Hall of Fame, which asked to be removed from the ballot.

“I will not participate in the final year of voting. I am requesting to be removed from the ballot...I can say at this point I am mentally done. I know math and I know trends and I know I will not attain the 75% threshold for induction," the former-Red Sox pitcher wrote in his post.

Jane Forbes Clark, the chairperson for the board of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum acknowledged they had received Schilling's request, and that they "will consider the request at our next meeting."

The Baseball Writer's Association of America has urged the Hall of Fame to reject Schilling's request to be removed from the ballot.

"It is the position of the Baseball Writers' Association of America that Mr. Schilling's request to remove himself from the ballot is a violation of the rules set forth by the National Baseball Hall of Fame's board of directors, who have commissioned the BBWAA to conduct the annual elections," wrote the BBWAA in its recommendation Wednesday.

Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe, who owns a Hall of Fame vote, joined The Drive on Tuesday and explained his decision to vote for Schilling, as well as Bonds and Clemens.

Abraham said "it's a baseball museum" in which the history of the game is preserved, and that based on merit of his playing career, Schilling deserves to be inducted.

As for Bonds and Clemens, whose actions are directly related to on-field transgressions, Abraham explained that if Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame, who served as commissioner of MLB and turned a blind eye during the steroid era, then those two should be elected as well.

You can hear Abraham's full comments below -