The results for the 2023 Contemporary Hall of Fame Ballot are in.
Fred McGriff - 16 of 16 ballots (1.000)
Don Mattingly - 8 votes (.500)
Curt Schilling - 7 votes (.438)
Dale Murphy - 6 votes (.375)
Belle, Bonds, Palmeiro, Clemens - fewer than 4 votes each
In my opinion, Fred McGriff was probably the best player outside of the Hall of Fame until yesterday (see my post about his case from November 2020, https://thecooperstownadvocate.blogspot.com/2020/11/why-i-think-fred-mcgriff-should-be-in.html). McGriff had eight seasons with over 100 RBI's (1,550 career) and ten 30 homer seasons (493 career).
Once again, Curt Schilling was passed over in the voting. This is no surprise, considering that he asked to be removed from his last BBWAA ballot, and doesn't want to be honored by an establishment as political and nasty as the Hall of Fame. Schilling is obviously one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived, and I think he can live with that.
The bottom four on the list demonstrate one obvious truth - if you can't play it straight, you won't make the Hall of Fame. This is a shame for Bonds and Clemens, who could have been Hall of Famers if they'd never taken the stuff. As "Crime Dog" Fred McGriff might say, crime doesn't pay!
As for the other two players on this list, Mattingly and Murphy, I don't really care if they make it or not. They were both very good players, and I wrote posts about them for this blog, but they're not sure-fire Hall of Famers. They may make it sometime in the future on account of their popularity.
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