2023 Contemporary Hall of Fame Ballot

    On December 4, the Hall of Fame will vote on eight former players as the Contemporary Hall of Fame ballot for 2023. In alphabetical order, those eight players are 

Albert Belle 

Barry Bonds 

Roger Clemens 

Don Mattingly 

Fred McGriff 

Dale Murphy 

Rafael Palmeiro 

Curt Schilling 

I've written about most of these players before, so this will be relatively straightforward. McGriff and Schilling are the Hall's two worst omissions, in my opinion, and I'd expect them to go in (although Schilling was left out for entirely different reasons and dropped off the ballot this year; see my posts on the 2022 Hall of Fame ballot). Obviously I'd leave out Bonds, Clemens, and Palmeiro, but the other three are a little tricky. Belle may or may not have corked his bat, but if all allegations are false I'd probably vote for him. I wrote posts about Murphy (https://thecooperstownadvocate.blogspot.com/2021/04/why-i-think-dale-murphy-should-be-in.html) and Mattingly (https://thecooperstownadvocate.blogspot.com/2020/11/why-i-think-don-mattingly-should-be-in.html), but I'm not sure whether they positively belong. If I had the choice, I'd probably vote for Schilling, McGriff, Murphy, and perhaps Belle. What about you?