Fernando Valenzuela, one of the most recognized figures in Mexican baseball and a key player of the 1980s, was left out of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown following the most recent vote by the Contemporary Era Committee.
According to the MLB Hall of Fame itself, Valenzuela received less than 5% of the vote, leaving him without a chance of being inducted this year. The only player elected was Jeff Kent, former second baseman, who received 14 of the 16 possible votes, reaching 87.5% of the total.
In the voting, other prominent candidates such as Carlos Delgado, Don Mattingly, and Dale Murphy also failed to reach the required 75% of the vote for induction. Delgado garnered nine votes, equivalent to 56.3%, falling three votes short of the goal. Mattingly and Murphy each received six votes, while Valenzuela, along with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Gary Sheffield, did not surpass the 5% threshold, according to data provided by the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.
