2023 Election
Voting is underway for the 2023 HOM. Post a ballot for discussion, after which, final ballot submissions are taken here.
BBTF welcomes new voters for the Hall of Merit (and Most Meritorious Player) elections but be sure to follow the guidelines set out for these elections. *
2023 Newly Eligible Players
Carlos Beltrán headlines the class of 2023 and is a strong bet to be inducted in his first year of eligibility. His historic postseason efforts are just the icing on a clearly meritorious career.
John Lackey, Matt Cain, and the others had noteworthy careers - enough to get into their team HOFs perhaps, but not strong enough to be inducted to the Hall of Merit. In an underwhelming year for newly eligibles, it's unlikely any players other than Beltrán will receive a vote. And since HOM decided to align eligibility with the Hall of Fame moving forward, Troy Tulowitzki, Dustin Pedroia, and Brandon Phillips are not eligible this year as they likely would have been under the HOM's old "token appearances" rule.
2022 Top Backloggers
Lance Berkman, Buddy Bell, Sal Bando, Bobby Bonds, Ben Taylor, and Vic Willis return as top backloggers for another year. David Ortiz joins them after missing out on his first year of eligibility, while Thurman Munson, Bob Johnson, and Tommy John improved their standings from the prior year to join the top of the backlog for 2023.
Munson was certainly the biggest gainer in the previous election. As the electorate considered segregation effects more seriously, that may have helped post-integration players like Munson and John more than expected.
Buddy Bell and Sal Bando remain at the top of the backlog as they have generally done for the past 30+ elections. A portion of the electorate believes WAR gives too much credit to third base from the 70s, and so they continue to face this hurdle to election. However, based on voting from 2022, Bell appears poised to possibly gain entry in 2023.
Wally Schang, Vic Willis, and Ben Taylor have been eligible for 80+ years but have not yet gained entry. Sometimes players do break through to election after such long paths, but it remains unlikely for them this year. Segregation effects will not help their chances, as more voters have time to consider this impact.
Lance Berkman, Bobby Bonds, and Bob Johnson continue the mantle of borderline corner outfield candidates all vying with each other for votes. Berkman appears like a strong bet for induction in 2023, while Bonds and Johnson will likely have to continue their waits and continue to fight the corner outfield glut in future elections.
2023 is an elect-three year. Beltrán will very likely be one of the selections. My guess is that the next two will come from the backlog in another not overly-strong debut class. Berkman and Bell would be my predictions to round out the 2023 induction class. However; Munson, Ortiz, and Bonds can't be counted out entirely.
* There are several steps to take if you would like to participate in voting. The preliminary step is to post your ballot in the 2023 ballot discussion thread on BBTF. As mentioned in the guidelines, this is more than a mere formality. Voters are expected to display thoughtfulness and logical/internal consistency on their ballots, and first time voters are required to post a preliminary ballot in the discussion which they may be asked to defend (seasoned voters are asked to defend as well, sometimes!). Ballots that are inconsistent or that do not follow the voting guidelines won't be counted.
In short, the HOM asks for voters who take the project seriously and put more than passing thought into the ballot. In particular, it requires being able to appropriately rank or appraise historical players fairly (this is usually the hard part), so unless you are a walking baseball encyclopedia, research is going to be a necessary part of the process. If you're passionate about baseball past and present, then hopefully that sounds like more fun to you than it does work, and the HOM looks forward to your contributions and perspective. Start here: