being a member of the 500 home run club is sometimes described as a guarantee of entry into the baseball hall of fame. some believe the milestone has become less meaningful in recent years. four club members who are now eligible for election to the hall of fame—bonds, sammy sosa, mark mcgwire and palmeiro—have not been elected. eligibility requires that a player has "been retired five seasons" or be dead for at least six months. some believe the milestone has become less important with the large number of new members; 10 players joined the club from 1999 to 2009. also, several of these recent members have had ties to performance-enhancing drugs. some believe that by not electing mcgwire to the hall, the voters were starting a "guideline" on how they would treat players from the "steroid era". since then, bonds and sosa have also failed to earn election. most recently, palmeiro became the first club member to be dropped from the hall of fame ballot, failing to earn enough votes (5% of votes cast) in the 2014 election to stay on the ballot.