Roger Clemens is disappointed, but not surprised he wasn't voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the legendary pitcher said on Twitter Wednesday.
"After what has been written and said over the last few years I'm not surprised," Clemens' note read. "Thanks to all the teams I've worked with and the fans and friends for all the fantastic letters, voicemails and texts of support over the last few years. To those who did take the time to look at the facts ... we very much appreciate it."
Clemens, a Houston native, won seven Cy Young awards in his 24 seasons. He won 354 games maintained a 3.14 ERA and struck out 4,672, the third most in baseball history. He also is a two-time World Series champion.
But Clemens was famously accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, although it was never proved and last summer Clemens was acquitted in a perjury trial that sprang from the government investigation of PED use in baseball. But he was among the baseball greats who paid the price Wednesday for their connection to the so-called steroid era.
No players were elected to the Hall of Fame this year, despite the candidacy of some of the most accomplished players in the game's history. None of the snubs, however, was more significant than those of Clemens, perhaps the greatest right-handed pitcher of all time, and Barry Bonds, who owns the all-time home run record.
Players need to be named on 75 percent of the ballots in order to be inducted. Clemens and Bonds both received votes on less than 40 percent of ballots.
