Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houston Astros long time first baseman and 4-time All-Star Jeff Bagwell announces his retirement from baseball in Houston, Friday, Dec. 15, 2006. Bagwell, 38, leaves the Astros as the team's all-time leader in home runs (449), RBIs (1,529), walks (1,401) and extra-base hits (969). He recorded a lifetime batting average of .297 and will continue with the Astros on a personal services contract. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
khou.com
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:45 PM
NEW YORK â€" Former Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell received more Hall-of-Fame votes than ever before on Monday, but again fell short of the 75 percent needed for induction into baseball’s hall of legends.
Bagwell received 56 percent â€" 321 of 573 â€" of the votes, 15 percent more than he got a year ago in his ballot debut.
Meanwhile, former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin got enough votes to enter baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Larkin received 495 votes (86 percent) in balloting announced Monday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, well above the necessary 430 (75 percent). Larkin was on the ballot for the third time after falling 75 votes short last year.
He will be inducted on July 22 in Cooperstown along with the late Ron Santo, elected last month by the Veterans Committee.
Jack Morris was next with 382 votes (67 percent), missing by 48 votes on his 13th try but up sharply from 54 percent last year.
Bagwell was third, followed by Lee Smith (290), Tim Raines (279), Edgar Martinez (209) and Alan Trammell (211).
Mark McGwire, 10th on the career home run list with 583, received 19.5 percent in his sixth try on the ballot, down from 19.8 percent last year and 23.7 percent in 2010 -- a vote before he admitted using steroids and human growth hormone.
Bernie Williams received the most votes among first-time eligibles, with 55. Bill Mueller got just four votes and will be dropped in future years along with Juan Gonzalez (23) and Vinny Castilla (six).
Next year’s ballot figures to be the most controversial, with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling eligible for the first time.
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