A handful of Baseball Writers made a statement by turning in blank ballots for this year's National Baseball Hall of Fame vote.  Five writers submitted empty ballots in protest of baseball's steroid era.  Clouded by accusations of performance-enhancing drug use, pitcher Roger Clemens and sluggers Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa highlighted the first-time eligibles on this year's ballot.  All three fell well short of the required 75-percent of the vote for election.  For the first time since 1996, no player made the cut this year.  The empty ballot gesture is not unprecedented.  There were nine blank ballots in 2011, five in 2010, five in 2009 and two in 2008.