Will Roger Clemens gain Hall of Fame support in 4th year on the ballot?

This is Roger Clemens' fourth year on the Hall of Fame ballot. Will one of the greatest pitchers in history move any closer to induction?

By Mike Axisa

Dec 23, 2015 at 9:57 am ET • 3 min read

We're zeroing in on the January 6 reveal of the BBWAA 2016 Hall of Fame class, one certain to include Ken Griffey Jr. and maybe another player or two. As we lead up to that announcement, CBS Sports' Eye on Baseball scribes are running through the serious candidates one day at a time.

By any objective measure, Rogers Clemens is one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. He checks all the boxes for fans of either traditional stats or sabermetrics.

During his 24-year career, which spanned 1984-2007 and four teams (Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, Astros), Clemens finished with these remarkable totals (min. 2,000 innings for rate stats):

Wins: 354 (9th all-time)
Strikeouts: 4,672 (3rd)
Starts: 707 (6th)
Innings: 4,916 2/3 (16th)
ERA: 3.12 (45th)
ERA+: 143 (5th)
FIP: 3.09 (32nd)
WHIP: 1.17 (43rd)
WAR: 140.3 (8th all-time, 3rd among pitchers)

Take WAR at face value -- a dubious proposition, admittedly -- and only Cy Young and Walter Johnson had better pitching careers than Clemens.

Clemens won seven Cy Youngs -- including at least one with each of the four teams for which he played, so he's one of five men to win the award in both leagues -- the most in history. No one else has more than five. Clemens won the award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2004.

Furthermore, Clemens finished second in the Cy Young voting once (1990) and third twice (1992, 2005). He received votes in 12 of his 24 seasons. Clemens was also named 1986 AL MVP, when he went 24-4 and led the league in ERA (2.48), ERA+ (169), WHIP (0.97) and FIP (2.81). Clemens was an 11-time All-Star. He was selected to the Midsummer Classic as young as young as 23 and as old as 42.

Among his many accomplishments, Clemens became the first pitcher in baseball history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game. He accomplished the feat against the Mariners on April 29, 1986. Here's the video:

Clemens again struck out 20 batters on September 18, 1996, against the Tigers. Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson later joined him in the 20-strikeout club, but Clemens was both the first and second pitcher to do it.

All throughout his career Clemens was known to be a fierce competitor. He took it personally when the Red Sox declined to meet his contract demands following the 1996 season, when then GM Dan Duquette famously said Clemens was "in the twilight of his career."

In his first game back at Fenway Park as a visiting player, Clemens struck out 16 in eight innings to improve his record to 14-3 with the division rival Blue Jays. He gave an angry stare up at Duquette as he walked off the mound following the eighth inning.

In 34 postseason starts (plus one relief appearance), Clemens went 12-8 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He won two World Series titles (1999, 2000) and was part of four other pennant winning clubs (1986, 2001, 2003, 2005). Clemens owns a 2.37 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in eight starts and 49 1/3 World Series innings.

By Game Score, Clemens threw the best pitched postseason game in baseball history, when he struck out 15 Mariners in a one-hit shutout in Game 4 of the 2000 ALCS. Here's the video:

Clemens' total body of work makes him a no-doubt Hall of Fame player. Jay Jaffe's JAWS system has him well above the established Hall of Fame standards for starting pitchers. However, this is Clemens' fourth year on the ballot. He has yet to be voted into Cooperstown due to performance-enhancing drug ties.

Most notably, Clemens was implicated as a PED user by former trainer Brian McNamee in the Mitchell Report. The accusations led to Clemens' being put on trial for perjury -- he had previously testified before a House committee about PED use in baseball -- but was eventually found not guilty on all counts.

But still, even with the not guilty rulings, the combination of McNamee's allegations, his age-defying career, and his relationship with Andy Pettitte have forever tainted Clemens' legacy. (Pettitte admitted to using HGH in 2002.) Clemens has been on the Hall of Fame ballot for three years and has not yet to come close to receiving the 75 percent needed for induction.

2013: 37.6 percent
2014: 35.4 percent
2015: 37.5 percent

As of this writing, @NotMrTibbs has collected 95 public Hall of Fame ballots and Clemens has appeared on 46, or 48.4 percent. Support for Clemens appears to be growing, however keep in mind 95 ballots represents only 20 percent of the voting body or so.

The only thing keeping Clemens out of the Hall of Fame are the PED suspicions. That's all. Clemens is arguably the best pitcher since the Dead Ball Era and inarguably one of the best pitchers in history. Whether he one day gets voted into the Hall of Fame remains to be seen.