Greg Maddux will not be the first baseball player to receive a unanimous Hall of Fame vote. Ken Gurnick, the Dodgers beat reporter for MLB.com, voted for only Jack Morris. That makes Gurnick the first published ballot to leave Maddux out of the Hall of Fame.
Gurnick's reasoning for his ballot: "As for those who played during the period of PED use, I won't vote for any of them."
Must Read
However, Maddux is still a near-lock to receive induction into the Hall of Fame in his first opportunity. Up until Monday, he had been named a Hall of Famer by every one of the 149 writers who had published their ballot through Monday, according to Baseball Think Factory. With 188 ballots known through Tuesday night, Maddux sits at 95.5 percent.
In addition to Maddux, it appears Tom Glavine is a sure bet to make the Hall of Fame. Through Tuesday, Baseball Think Factory has him collecting 95.7 percent of the vote thus far. Every MLB.com reporter other than Gurnick also included Glavine on their vote. Frank Thomas also has a good probability to get in with 90.4 percent percent of the vote through Monday and 11 of the MLB.com reporters also declaring him worthy.
Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza could go either way at this point. Both have been dogged by whispers that they may have taken illegal performance enhancing drugs, though there has been no solid evidence against either. Currently, Biggio is over the 75 percent threshold with 78.7 percent of the published vote while Piazza is just short at 68.6 percent. Of the MLB.com writers, 13 voted for Biggio while just eight voted for Piazza.
Meanwhile, it appears that Jack Morris will have to hope the VeteranLs Committee takes his side in a few years. He is in his 15th -- and final -- year on the ballot, but only has 60.6 percent of the published ballots thus far.
In danger of dropping off the ballot permanently are Don Mattingly (5.3 percent), Rafael Palmeiro (6.4 percent) and Sammy Sosa (8.0 percent). If any is below five percent on the final tally, they can no longer be included in subsequent years.
Noted steroid enthusiast and all-time Home Run king Barry Bonds has collected 43 percent of the vote, which would be up from his 36 percent last year. That may indicate that some writers are warming up to the possibility of including perhaps the most feared batter ever in the Hall. Roger Clemens, at 41.5 percent, would also be up from his 37.6 percent last year.
Pete Rose remains at one write-in vote.
The new group of Hall in Fame inductees will be announced at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday. MLB Network will begin airing coverage at noon.
More from SB Nation MLB:
• Baseball Hall of Fame profiles: Mark McGwire | Fred McGriff | Mike Piazza
• Brisbee: Finding the modern Lou Whitaker
• FAQ: The baseball Hall of Fame, BBWAA ballot, rules and regulations
• Reds not optimistic about Homer Bailey's extension
• Death of a Ballplayer: Wrongly convicted prospect spends 27 years in prison