The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame announced the eight former players who comprise the Contemporary Era ballot that will be reviewed and voted on at the 2022 Winter Meetings in San Diego. Results of the voting will be announced live on MLB Network on Sunday, December 4, beginning at 5 p.m. PT.
The Contemporary Era features players whose primary contributions to the game came between 1980 and the present day.
The ballot consists of Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling as the candidates being considered for Hall of Fame election as part of the class of 2023.
Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas, Alan Trammell, Paul Beeston, Theo Epstein, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Dave St. Peter, Ken Williams, Steve Hirdt, LaVelle Neal and Susan Slusser are on the 16-member committee that will vote on players who appear on the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot.
Any candidate who receives votes on 75% of the ballots cast by the 16-member committee will earn election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and be inducted in Cooperstown on July 23, 2023, along with any electees who emerge from the 2023 Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) election that will be announced on Jan. 24.
The committee is comprised of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, executives and veteran media members. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will serve as the non-voting chairman and secretary of the committee.
The Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee is one of two committees that consider retired MLB players, managers, umpires and executives who are no longer eligible for election to the Hall of Fame through the BBWAA.
The Contemporary Baseball Era has two ballots. One for players and another for managers, executives and umpires that will be considered in the fall of 2023. In addition, the Classic Baseball Era Committee will meet in the fall of 2024 and includes all candidates whose primary contribution to the game came prior to 1980.
The Era Committees were formerly known as the Veterans Committee before the process was restructured in the spring of 2022. The Era Committee has been a part of the Hall of Fame voting process since their first class of electees coming in 1937.
It has since elected 179 people to the Hall of Fame, including 105 players, 33 executives, 22 managers, 10 umpires and nine Negro League players.
Baseball Hall of Fame Contemporary Era Ballot 2023
Albert Belle
Albert Belle is a five-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger award winner who played 12 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles before a hip injury cut short his career.
He is the only player in history with a 50-homer and 50-double season, which was accomplished in 1995, and he is a three-time American League RBI champion who finished second or third in the MVP voting each season from 1994-96.
Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds is MLB’s all-time home run leader with 762, along with the single-season record of 73 in 2001, while playing 22 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants.
The slugger won seven NL MVP Awards and eight Gold Glove Awards in the outfield. Bonds holds the single-season record for walks (232 in 2004) and led the NL in on-base percentage 10 times and batting average twice.
Bonds is one of the many players who has been connected to steroid use during this era, which kept him from being elected in the BBWAA voting.
Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens pitched 24 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros while winning seven Cy Young Awards. He is a two-time World Series champion with the Yankees (1999-2000) and won the 1986 AL MVP.
Clemens led his league in ERA seven times, won 20-games five times, and was named an All-Star in 11 seasons. Clemens has been connected to steroids, but he never tested positive.
Don Mattingly
Don Mattingly spent all 14 of his Major League seasons with the Yankees, winning three Silver Sluggers, the 1984 AL batting title, and finished his career with a .307 batting average.
Mattingly was selected to six All-Star Games and won nine Gold Gloves at first base. He was also named the 1985 AL MVP Aaward winner. In addition, he has managed in the big leagues for 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins.
He was voted the 2020 NL Manager of the Year.
Fred McGriff
Fred McGriff played 19 seasons with the Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Chicago Cubs and Dodgers. The 1994 All-Star Game MVP hit 493 home runs and totaled eight 100-RBI campaigns.
In six of his seasons, McGriff finished in the top 10 of his league’s MVP voting and led in homers twice with a .377 career on-base percentage.
Dale Murphy
Dale Murphy is a seven-time All-Star who played 18 seasons with the Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies. Murphy led the league in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage twice while posting a 30-30 season in 1983.
He also earned back-to-back NL MVP Awards in 1982-83 during a five-year stretch where he won five Gold Glovess in center field and four Silver Sluggers.
Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro played 20 seasons with the Cubs, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, earring four All-Star Game selections, three Gold Gloves at first base, and two Silver Slugger awards.
In 10 of his seasons, he posted at least 100 RBI and 30 home runs while finishing his career with more walks (1,353) than strikeouts (1,348) along with 3,020 hits, 569 homers and 1,835 RBI.
Curt Schilling
Curt Schilling pitched 20 seasons with the Orioles, Astros, Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Red Sox, finishing his career as one of only four retired pitchers with at least 3,000 strikeouts and fewer than 1,000 walks.
He was named to six All-Star Games while winning the 2001 World Series co-MVP. In 19 postseason appearances, he went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA.
Schilling was not voted into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA after he shared conspiracy theories and far-right extremist views. The BBWAA voting rules tell voters to consider integrity and character as part of the voting process.
He eventually asked the Hall of Fame to remove him from the ballot when it was clear he would not be elected.
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