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.