Hall of Fame Contemporary Era Committee Ballot

[jayshum]

Here are the 8 players on the Hall of Fame Contemporary Era Committee ballot. The first four were on the last ballot, and the other four are appearing for the first time. 12 votes out of 16 are needed to be inducted. Results are announced on December 7.

Barry Bonds (<4 votes last time)
Roger Clemens (<4 votes last time)
Don Mattingly (8 votes last time)
Dale Murphy (6 votes last time)
Carlos Delgado
Jeff Kent
Gary Sheffield
Fernando Valenzuela

[KJA]

Great to see Delgado on the ballot, was hoping Kenny Lofton would get on the ballot.

[CollectingAmericasPastime]

Criminal that Lofton isn't on the ballot. What are we doing...

[G1911]

Barry Bonds/Roger Clemens/Gary Sheffield - Obviously numerically deserving, vote/decision is entirely 100% based on steroids and ones opinion of that.

Don Mattingly/Dale Murphy - Fan favorite, career numbers aren't there, but odds are decent they'll make it anyways from a committee of insiders.

Carlos Delgado - Clearly deserving of a genuine look, especially if the steroid guys are being kept out. Blocking the steroid guys and then also blocking the guys in that B tier of star hitters without drug problems doesn't make much sense and leads to very few selections compared to other eras. Travesty Delgado was one and done on the writers ballot.

Jeff Kent - One of the top hitting 2B, should be in already. Easy yes.

Fernando Valenzuela - Lol. Lmao. Clearly undeserving, Jim Kaat level 104 ERA+ performance with like 1,500 less innings.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I predict Mattingly only of this group.
Murphy feels like we've been there done this 100 times and his case isn't getting any better.
Delgado, nothing that compelling about him and not popular with any big fane base behind him.
Kent, maybe most deserving of the group, but disliked.
Sheffield NFW.
Bonds and Clemens, not until a new generation starts voting.
Valenzuela, LOL.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I predict Mattingly only of this group.
Murphy feels like we've been there done this 100 times and his case isn't getting any better.
Delgado, nothing that compelling about him and not popular with any big fane base behind him.
Kent, maybe most deserving of the group, but disliked.
Sheffield NFW.
Bonds and Clemens, not until a new generation starts voting.
Valenzuela, LOL.

Both Mattingly and Murphy have been on 18 ballots. That's an awful lot. Most recently, in the 2023 Veteran's committee voting, Mattingly got 50% to Murphy's 37.5%. I personally would vote for Murphy over Mattingly, but its close. Murphy's JAWS is 46.5 to Mattingly's 42.4. He just had more super-productive years.

I would personally like to see Lofton and Hernandez on the ballot. Lofton has only been on one ballot, which is criminal. Hernandez has been on 9 ballots, and none since 2004. I think Hernandez is disadvantaged by the fact that his MVP year was 1979, and the "Contemporary Baseball Era" player ballot focuses on players whose primary contributions to the game came since 1980.

I think the most interesting player to watch might be Sheffield, who has been trending up. In 2021 and 2022 he got 40.6% of the vote, but in 2023 he got 50%, and in 2024 he got 63.9%. I wonder if Sheffield is getting some sympathy from the voters, because he was one of the few players that spoke out about steroid use.

I'd probably vote for Kent and Murphy, but I doubt the voters will do the same. Jeff Kent was apparently very much disliked during his time, which seems to hurt people's chances with voters. But he has great numbers.

[KJA]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I predict Mattingly only of this group.
Murphy feels like we've been there done this 100 times and his case isn't getting any better.
Delgado, nothing that compelling about him and not popular with any big fane base behind him.
Kent, maybe most deserving of the group, but disliked.
Sheffield NFW.
Bonds and Clemens, not until a new generation starts voting.
Valenzuela, LOL.

Seeing Fernando on there is a little odd, I don't think Gooden has been on one of these ballots and had a similar career to Fernando but a little better.

[JustinD]

I know people will disagree, however I think Bonds, Clemens and Matty should be in. Due to it depending so much on the electorates chosen for the committee I agree with Peter, Mattingly is the only lock I see.

I don’t see any of the others as HOF players, although it is nice to see Fernando on the ballot. I am glad he got that honor, but should not be in for the brevity of his power years.

[SyrNy1960]

I’ll never understand why anyone would want Barry Bonds in the HOF, considering his PED use resulted in him cheating the All-Time HR record away from Hank Aaron.

[dgo71]

I'm most disappointed that players like Dwight Evans, Keith Hernandez and Lou Whitaker were left off in lieu of the same old retread names. Clemens and Bonds have been voted on ad nauseum and nothing about their cases has changed. Same for Murphy and Mattingly, as much as I'd like to see both of them get in. Valenzuela is in no way shape or form a HOFer, and it feels like he was included only because of his recent passing.

It's to the point where having a vote seems like a charade as the ballots continually bring up the same names year after year. If they want them in so bad just hold a special election and put them all in. Players like Kent, Albert Belle, Lofton etc may never get in but they certainly deserve their shot at a deeper look.

[butchie_t]

Fingers crossed that the dynamic duo continue to have to buy tickets to get into the HOF and just look at what could have been through all the glass display cases.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by dgo71

I'm most disappointed that players like Dwight Evans, Keith Hernandez and Lou Whitaker were left off in lieu of the same old retread names. Clemens and Bonds have been voted on ad nauseum and nothing about their cases has changed. Same for Murphy and Mattingly, as much as I'd like to see both of them get in. Valenzuela is in no way shape or form a HOFer, and it feels like he was included only because of his recent passing.

It's to the point where having a vote seems like a charade as the ballots continually bring up the same names year after year. If they want them in so bad just hold a special election and put them all in. Players like Kent, Albert Belle, Lofton etc may never get in but they certainly deserve their shot at a deeper look.

I agree with you. Whitaker has been on only 2 ballots. Evans on only 4. Lofton on 1.

But Murphy and Mattingly 18 each. And Clemens and Bonds 11.

I don't like how they just keep voting on the same guys over and over. Give somone else a chance.

[Beercan collector]

I’m not a big WAR fan but I found it interesting on baseball reference that during 162 game average Kenny Lofton and Albert Pujols have an identical 5.3 WAR.
Despite being a 25 year old Rookie Lofton Got close to the Hall of Fame Required accumulative stats with 1528 runs and 622 stolen bases

[CollectingAmericasPastime]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

I agree with you. Whitaker has been on only 2 ballots. Evans on only 4. Lofton on 1.

But Murphy and Mattingly 18 each. And Clemens and Bonds 11.

I don't like how they just keep voting on the same guys over and over. Give somone else a chance.

At some point an ultimatum needs to be made on Murphy & Mattingly. Bonds & Clemens should be in; they're surefire HoFers that simply have an asterisk attached to their name. Get them off the ballot for goodness sakes.

Evans, Lofton, and Whitaker are who the committee should be focused on, especially Lofton.

[G1911]

I think I would vote for Lofton, but whether one thinks he should ultimately be inducted or not Lofton is clearly above the line of guys who should be dismissed after 1 ballot. It's a travesty he was never seriously considered - exactly the kind of player these committee 'second chance' votes should be for, looking at and correcting if appropriate the limited mistakes of the original voters.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Cards for a cardless thread.

[KJA]

Originally Posted by G1911

I think I would vote for Lofton, but whether one thinks he should ultimately be inducted or not Lofton is clearly above the line of guys who should be dismissed after 1 ballot. It's a travesty he was never seriously considered - exactly the kind of player these committee 'second chance' votes should be for, looking at and correcting if appropriate the limited mistakes of the original voters.

I always thought Lofton deserved it, his numbers are very close to Raines and he played in 400 less games.

[bigfanNY]

Originally Posted by SyrNy1960

I’ll never understand why anyone would want Barry Bonds in the HOF, considering his PED use resulted in him cheating the All-Time HR record away from Hank Aaron.

Given that MLB did not ban the use of Steroids until 2005. It seems a very weak argument to keep Barry Bonds out of a place called the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bonds was / is one of the greatest players to ever play the game of Baseball. David Ortiz is in the Hall of Fame and is on list of playets Confirmed to have tested positive for steroids. Barry Bonds belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame.