TORONTO -- Roger Clemens and Fred McGriff were among the former Blue Jays players who fell short in the number of votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America required for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday evening.
Outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and catcher Mike Pizza were the only candidates to receive at least 75 percent of the votes required for entry. Griffey was named on all but three of the 440 ballots to mark the highest percentage (99.3) in election history, dating back to 1936.
Clemens received 45.2 percent of the vote, while McGriff finished with 20.9 percent. Second baseman Jeff Kent (16.6 percent) and shortstop David Eckstein (0.5) received some consideration while third baseman Troy Glaus was left off all ballots in his first year of eligibility.
• Complete Hall of Fame coverage
Blue Jays Minor League instructor and former Expos outfielder Tim Raines fell just short of gaining entry to the Hall. He received 69.8 percent of the vote while Canadian outfielder Larry Walker saw his number rise slightly from 11.8 percent in 2015 to 15.5 percent in 2016.
:: Griffey, Piazza make Hall of Fame ::
Clemens' time with the Blue Jays was brief, but he enjoyed two of his best seasons in Toronto. He won a pair of AL Cy Young Awards in 1997 and '98 and went 41-13 with a 2.33 ERA and 563 strikeouts in 498 2/3 innings over that period. He was considered one of the best pitchers of his generation but his case for the Hall has been plagued by alleged connections to performance-enhancing substances.
McGriff is the player on the list who is most closely associated to the Blue Jays. He made his Major League debut in Toronto and spent parts of five seasons with the club before he was traded alongside Tony Fernandez in a blockbuster trade with San Diego for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter prior to the 1991 season.
The five-time All-Star finished seven home runs shy of 500 for his career and had a lifetime .284 average and .886 OPS over 19 years in the big leagues. McGriff's best season with the Blue Jays came in 1989 when he hit .300 with 36 home runs and 96 RBIs with a league-best .924 OPS.
Players are allowed to remain on the ballot for 10 years as long as they receive at least five percent of the vote. Raines will have one last shot to be elected in 2016 while Eckstein and Glaus will be the only former Blue Jays players removed from the ballot.
The Baseball Hall of Fame now has 312 elected members, which includes 217 players and 121 candidates who were voted in by the BBWAA.