HoME 2.0, Elections of 1901 and 1906

It was almost eight years ago now that we held out first election at the Hall of Miller and Eric. It was an extremely nerve-wracking time even though we had essentially zero readers then. In fact, our first 1901 election post hasn’t even been viewed ten times. In other words, the nervousness didn’t originate from putting ourselves out there.iIt occurred because we presented ourselves with a daunting imaginary responsibility, and we just wanted to get it right.

1901 Election 2.0

Back in 2013, we elected only three players in the 1901 election, Jack Glasscock, John Clarkson, and Deacon White. Those were the only three Miller supported during the first go ‘round. Eric added George Wright, King Kelly, Paul Hines, Ross Barnes, and Charlie Bennett. Clearly Eric was more confident in his rankings, a pattern we begin to see again this election. So who gets in this time? To get a plaque, a player needs a vote from both of us. Here are the 2.0 results.

   Miller              Eric
1  John Clarkson       Tim Keefe
2  Jack Glasscock      John Clarkson
3  Old Hoss Radbourn   Jack Glasscock
4  Tim Keefe           Deacon White
5  George Wright       Charlie Bennett
6                      Old Hoss Radbourn
7                      George Wright

That means we elect five, each of the five Miller supported. But what about Deacon White? He made it eight years ago as one of only three players Miller supported. There’s no story here. It’s just patience. White’s fans shouldn’t worry. Not yet.

We’ve now elected five of the 264 players who will eventually form the updated Hall of Miller and Eric.

1906 Election 2.0

Miller remained extremely conservative with his second ever vote, supporting only Eric’s first three choices: Cap Anson, Roger Connor, and Dan Brouthers. Eric showed that he was further along in the process once again, voting for the three first basemen plus Buck Ewing, George Wright (again), King Kelly, Paul Hines, Ross Barnes, and Charlie Bennett (again).

The second time around, our ballots showed two people who have been working on this together for a great deal of time. Sometimes we fear groupthink, and that’s something about which we should always be aware. However, we’re both such independent thinkers that we believe, correctly or not, that our similar results are more likely the result of logical decision-making than remaining inside a bubble of two. So without further ado, here’s how we voted in 1906.

   Miller             Eric
1  Cap Anson          Cap Anson 
2  Buck Ewing         Roger Connor
3  Roger Connor       Dan Brouthers
4  Dan Brouthers      Buck Ewing
5  Amos Rusie         Amos Rusie
6  Charlie Bennett    Deacon White
7                     Charlie Bennett

Once again, each of the six players Miller supported are now in the HoME. And Charlie Bennett becomes the first player elected on a ballot other than the first. At this stage, only Deacon White has received a vote from either of us and is not in the HoME.

After two elections we’ve elected eleven of our eventual 264. That compares to just six during our first series of elections.

A week from today, we’ll share the results of our 1911 and 1916 elections.  Maybe Miller gives a vote to Deacon White? Maybe Eric offers a shorter ballot than Miller, something that didn’t happen until our first 1979 election? We shall see.

The Best 125 Shortstops Ever

Shortstop is a bit of a wasteland until we get to the young guys. In fact, depending your view of Troy Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez, and Jose Reyes as “active”, Andrelton Simmons in the 60s is the highest ranked player at the position. And the truth is, it’s possible the only one of those four we’ll ever see come to the plate again is the brilliant Angel defender. Take things back more than a century, and we also have two of the Hall greatest omissions at this position, Bill Dahlen and Jack Glasscock. Interesting and strange stuff here.

Before we get to our 125, we should mention some position differences. I place Jack Rowe, Julio Franco, and Jose Offerman here. Eric places Rowe behind the plate and the other two at second base. That’s where I place Buck Herzog, a player Eric has here. And he also has Tom Burns here; I place him at shortstop.

Before moving on to the top-125 at shortstop, make sure you check out earlier posts in this series.

[Catcher], [First Base], [Second Base], [Third Base]

Coming up on Monday, we start our tour around the outfield. Please join us then.

Miller

All-Time HoME Leaders, Shortstop – 1-20

As you might know, our friends at BBREF updated their WAR numbers last month. And that means we have to update ours as well. While the changes aren’t really significant, they’re not nothing either. This is our first post with Miller’s updated numbers. Eric’s will be coming shortly.

If you’re looking for posts with the previous BBREF numbers, the first six in this series are below. By the end of this series, when our rankings find a permanent home on the site, the small updates will be made to these lists as well.

[MAPES+], [CHEWS+], [1B, 1-20], [1B, 21-40], [2B, 1-20], [2B, 21-40], [3B, 1-20], [3B, 21-40]

Shortstop – 1-20

Why are there no active shortstops in the top-20?

Because Troy Tulowitzki can’t stay healthy? There’s some truth in that because a Tulo who could manage even 140 games a season would be in or close to the top 20. Throw out his 2006 cuppa coffee, and he’s managed a mere 112 games a year. Which is a shame because he’s averaged 5.5 WAR per 162 games during his career. Beyond that? There’s a gaping generational gap between the Trinity + Tejada generation and today’s shortstops. Jimmy Rollins, Michael Young, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, and Jhonny Peralta were the best of the first wave afterward. The next wave probably included Elvis Andrus, Brandon Crawford, and Andrelton Simmons. But wow! Look at the young talent at shortstop right now! Correa, Lindor, Seager, Bogaerts, Russell. This position is stocked, and those guys will be jetting up our rankings starting this year. One name missing here: Manny Machado. Instead of becoming the next Cal Ripken, he’s the next Brooks Robinson. But who knows, if he’s dealt this year or departs Charm City as a free agent, he might go someplace that needs a shortstop.—Eric

It’s just a coincidence, I think. The 90s were a great time for AL shortstops with A-Rod, Jeter, Nomar, and Tejada. The 70s were a great time for NL pitchers with Seaver, Carlton, Niekro, Blyleven, Jenkins, Perry, and Sutton. There have been down times too. Perhaps now is one at shortstop. On the other hand, with Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and others on the scene today, the drought may not last for too long.—Miller

Where do our rankings diverge the most from the conventional wisdom?

What’s my deal is with Jack Glasscock? All reasonable systems have him in the Hall. Most say he’s among the best ten shortstops ever. But nobody has him as high as third. So I’ve looked into my system. I first thought the numbers might be so high because of my DRA adjustment. I looked into DRA and found that early players populate most of the top spots on the career list. So then I began to consider counting pre-1893 DRA less than I do. Somewhat to my surprise, I found that I had already made that decision. The good news, I suppose, is that my thought process is pretty consistent. The next thing I looked at is my consecutive stat since that’s something few people use. Well, that’s not it either. Though Glasscock’s consecutive number is pretty great, it’s less great than his peak, prime, or career number. Then it struck me. Glasscock has the third best peak numbers, and my system is very peak-centric. That’s pretty much the whole story.—Miller

That’s easy! Derek Jeter. But it raises the question, Whose conventional wisdom? After all, the argument over just how bad Saint Derek’s defense was has raged for a baseball generation or more. If you disbelieve defensive stats and/or you’re a Yankees fan, you’ve probably got him among your top shortstops ever. If you have some trust in current defensive analysis, you’re a seamhead like us and you’re more comfortable with a ranking like this. In which case, you have plenty of others to choose from in our top twenty. At no position does defense play a larger role in moving our rankings one way or the other.—Eric

Where do we disagree with one another the most?

Besides the fact that I rank Ernie Banks as a shortstop rather than a first baseman, it’s Pebbly Jack Glasscock. We both think much more highly of him than the average person, but Miller’s run him very far up the flagpole. For what it’s worth, Glasscock is a missing Hall of Famer, but I fear he’ll never be elected simply due to his unfortunate name.—Eric

It’s a peak thing. The Hall will eventually get his case right, though it’s likely to take some time.—Miller

Are there any players who MAPES+/CHEWS+ might overrate or underrate? 

Believe it or not, the answer is A-Rod. No, he’s not overrated due to his likely sports-drugs usage. You know that’s not our hobby horse. Instead, it’s because A-Rod spent this close to half his days at third base, but he spent just this many more at shortstop. In my system, shortstop is a little tougher set of competition than third base. Mike Schmidt, my number one third baseman, and A-Rod, my number two shortstop have very similar profiles in my systems, and if I were to blithely paste A-Rod’s numbers over Schmidt’s, he would rate number 1 at third base and raise his CHEWS+ by about three points. These are very small little nits I’m picking here, but it does go to show that even these little things make a difference in our perceptions.—Eric

Well, maybe we overrate Glasscock some. However, the real guy our systems underrate, I think, may be Jeter. If you noticed above, he isn’t even in my top-20. In neither of our systems do we include any playoff performance for position players. I stand by that decision. Giving playoff credit to hitters is sort of like judging MVP votes on runs batted in. They’re both based more on opportunity than talent. Still, it’s not like those 158 playoff games didn’t happen. Would the Yankees have won the 1996 World Series were it not for his 10^th inning single in Game 4? How about in 2000 when he was World Series MVP? There are other moments to point to as well, I’m sure. His 200 hits, 111 runs, and .308/.374/.465 line make me think bumping him up a few ranks would be just fine. Even if we did, he’d still rank below where most people rank him.—Miller

Next week we’ll welcome Derek Jeter to our second list, shortstops 21-40.

Omar Vizquel Goes Saberhagen

Right off the bat I am going to admit that I have a pretty strong anti-Omar disposition as it relates to the Hall, as you’ll see today and the next two Mondays. And while I know I’m not alone, there are a number of people whose work I respect who are less sure about Vizquel’s status as an also ran. I think I’m right, but given the stances of others, I’m not completely certain. Luckily for me, I have a plan that helps to guide my thinking when that uncertainty arises.

It has been quite a while, over two years, since we’ve reviewed a player via our Saberhagen List. Basically, Saberhagen is our version Bill James’ Keltner List, a way to better understand a player’s candidacy.

So let’s take a look at Vizquel to see if my thinking is legitimate or if the Hall-hype, and early votes, surrounding the three-time All-Star makes more sense.

How many All-Star-type seasons did he have?

Our first question doesn’t focus on All-Star Games, which are popularity contests on a lot of levels. Rather, this question refers to 5-WAR seasons, the level generally considered to be All-Star quality.

But before we can answer this question very well, he have to consider my adjustment system. There are a couple of things I do that have an effect on Vizquel’s numbers. The first is to scale up his 1994 and 1995 numbers to partially account for games missed due to work stoppage. The other is to remove 2/3 of BBREF’s Rfield number and replace it with Michael Humphreys’ DRA. Basically, I prefer the way DRA measures defense, but because I’m not completely certain, I don’t replace all of Rfield.

With that out of the way, I give Vizquel exactly zero seasons at All-Star level. Not a single one. None. His best season, in my opinion, was 1999, his age-32 season in Cleveland, which was worth 4.61 runs by my account. To be fair, DRA doesn’t like Vizquel. While Rfield gives him +14 runs that season, DRA sees him at -3.4 runs.

So let’s say that I’m wrong, the DRA is wrong, and that Rfield and BBREF are right. In that case, 1999 is still Vizquel’s best season, worth 6.0 WAR. And it’s his only season the All-Star level. In fact, it’s his only such season within a win of that level.

Maybe you prefer Fangraphs. Reasonable, I suppose. Well, they agree with BBREF that he has one season at 6.0 WAR, but they rank his second best at 3.4.

So here’s a breakdown for those who have missed it. Depending on who you trust, Vizquel played like an All-Star either once or never in his 24 seasons.

How many MVP-type seasons did he have?

Unless math and logic aren’t your forte, you probably know the answer to this one. Zippo.

Was he a good enough player that he could continue to play regularly after passing his prime?

It depends who you believe. If you trust BBREF, Vizquel’s last season of 3+ WAR was 2004, his last year in Cleveland. He was a regular for three years after that. Once he was good (2.9 WAR), once fine (1.5 WAR), and once pretty unhelpful (0.6 WAR).

Fangraphs thinks he was still a 3-win player two years later. After that he was only a regular once, a decent 2.0 in 2007.

My numbers think his prime ended even earlier than BBREF believes. And he was a regular for another five seasons. In only two of those seasons was he decent.

Are his most comparable players in the HoME?

If you trust Similarity Scores, Vizquel looks quite good. Six of the eight players most similar to him are in the Hall. And another, Bill Dahlen belongs there. However, Luis Aparicio, Rabbit Maranville, and Nellie Fox are particularly weak players for Hall of Famers. Also, Similarity Scores are more than 30 years old, based on career totals, which are inflated for Vizquel because he hung around for 1806 trips to the plate and only 0.5 BBREF WAR after age 40. Oh, also, it’s a fun but basically BS stat.

So what I did was to look at all of the middle infielders in my database who are within 20% of Vizquel in career WAR, WAR for his top-5 seasons, and WAR for his top-12 seasons. And there are 12 players who are within 20% of Vizquel on all of those lists. It’s not pretty.

By career WAR, they are Jose Valentin, George Grantham, Marty McManus, Jimmy Rollins, Larry Doyle, Frank White, Chris Speier, Claude Ritchey, Pete Runnels, Davey Johnson, Edgar Renteria, and Jose Offerman. They’re all nice players, but it’s clear by my numbers that the players most comparable to Vizquel aren’t in the HoME or the Hall.

If you prefer JAWS, we can look at those shortstops within 5% of his JAWS score, we have Tony Fernandez, Phil Rizzuto, Roger Peckinpaugh, Rabbit Maranville, Hanley Ramirez, Mark Belanger, Donie Bush, Rico Petrocelli, Dick Bartell, Rafael Furcal, Dave Concepcion, Maury Wills, and Jay Bell. None of those guys are in the HoME, though two, Rizzuto and Maranville, are in the Hall. In his Cooperstown Casebook, Jaffe lists the most dubious honorees at each position. He mentions just two shortstops. And you guessed it, they’re Rizuto and Maranville.

Was he ever the best shortstop in baseball? Or in his league?

In the very best season of his career, both Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra were better. He had four consecutive seasons of 3.3+ WAR from 1996-1999. Those represent four of the best six seasons of his career. And during that peak run, he was just the sixth best shortstop in baseball, a shade behind Jay Bell. Opening it up from his first decent season until his last, 1991-2006, a 16-year run perfectly suited to Vizquel but no other, he’s just fifth in baseball among shortstops. And none of the guys four in front or eleven immediately behind were even active in all of those seasons.

No, he was never, ever baseball’s best shortstop.

Did he ever have a reasonable case for being called the best player in baseball? Or in his league?

Hahahahahahaha!

Is there any evidence to suggest that the player was significantly better or worse than is suggested by his statistics?

DRA drags him down. A lot. He’s 42^nd among all shortstops by JAWS. However, he was  62^nd by my MAPES system until it tipped a little more peak-centered. Now he’s down to 75^th.

One argument that will be used for Vizquel is his eleven Gold Gloves. On so many levels, that’s a ridiculous argument. Gold Gloves are awarded based on votes from observers, not any metric. They’re guesses. There’s one other player in baseball history, by the way, with eleven Gold Gloves. That’s Keith Hernandez.

Vizquel: .272/.336/.352, 82 OPS+

Hernandez: .296/.384/.436, 128 OPS+

Oh, let’s look at defensive numbers too.

Vizquel is at 129 in Rfield and -31.0 in DRA. Hernandez is similar in Rfield with 118, but massacres Vizquel by the superior DRA stat with 220.2.

This Saberhagen question asks for evidence, and no, the eye test is not evidence. You are right to think Hernandez is insanely more qualified than Vizquel.

Did he have a positive impact on pennant races and in post-season series?

Since nobody cites Omar’s post-season play or clutch work as an argument for his inclusion in the Hall, I’m not going to dive too deeply into this except to point out a couple of numbers. The triple slash in the playoffs is a stinky .250/.327/.316. He did steal 23/26 bases, which is excellent. Oh, just in case you’re wondering, his World Series slash line was .208/.288/.283. Yuck!

Is he the best eligible player at his position not in the HoME?

Jack Glasscock, Bill Dahlen, Alan Trammell, Art Fletcher, Hughie Jennings, Bert Campaneris, Roger Peckinpaugh, Vern Stephens, and 40 others rank ahead of Vizquel for me.

He’s not even the best Venezuelan shortstop eligible. That’s Dave Concepcion. And Davey absolutely shouldn’t go.

Hate my numbers? Well, there are 13 eligible superior shortstops outside the Hall by JAWS.

Is he the best eligible candidate not in the HoME?

Hell no! Let’s just look at the current ballot. Omar Vizquel is 20^th in career WAR, right between Jamie Moyer and Carlos Zambrano. He’s 24^th in WAR in his best seven seasons, right between Orlando Hudson and Kerry Wood.

Conclusion

Now I’m completely certain. A vote for Omar Vizquel is a vote to diminish the Hall of Fame. You’re not sure yet? Well, in the next couple of weeks, I’ll have more.

Miller

A Q & A with Adam Darowski of the Hall of Stats

Inky’s presence makes sense here, I promise.

A few weeks ago when Eric suggested to me that we reach out to some of our favorite people in the industry, I immediately agreed. That he should do it. I don’t mind admitting that I’m intimidated by these folks, just as I am my favorite baseball players. But somehow I’ve tried, and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. Last week I shared a conversation with Ryan Thibodaux of the Hall of Fame Tracker. Today it’s Adam Darowski of the Hall of Stats and SABR’s Overlooked 19^th Century Base Ball Legends Project.

Adam inspires us at the HoME with his depth of thought about how players should be evaluated and who should be in the Hall of Fame, he treats us with rankings of players on our favorite teams, he motivates us to help keep the past alive at the HoME – it’s not just players in our lifetimes who have been overlooked, and he helps un-muddy the waters, if you will, with a Hall of Consensus, which compares the Halls of a number of experts against that of the Hall of Fame.

If you’re not familiar with Adam’s work, or if you are, I’m excited to introduce you to him here. And if you think he’s awesome at baseball and suspect he might also be awesome at music too, check out his 2015 punk rock album, YAY!.

Enjoy!

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What made you start the Hall of Stats?

When the 2013 Hall of Fame results came out (and nobody was elected by the BBWAA), I wrote a manifesto of sorts about this topic. From a very young age, my specific baseball interest has been this intersection between baseball history and baseball statistics. It’s really no surprise that I’d eventually become deeply interested in Hall of Fame metrics. That naturally led to me identifying and researching the players with strong statistical cases who have been overlooked by Cooperstown. The more I learned about these players, the more attached I became. And the more they were overlooked, the more it affected me. The Hall of Stats is essentially a reaction to that. As I wrote in The Hardball Times in 2015, I just want to see my generation adequately represented.

The Hall of Stats originally started as a book project, but I got about ten pages into it before discovering I’m really not a writer. What I do is make digital products on the web. I decided that was probably a better medium for the Hall of Stats anyway, since it would allow me to constantly tinker and update things year after year. I enlisted the help of my friend Jeffrey Chupp and we built it and launched almost five years ago. Since then another friend of mine, Michael Berkowitz, helped me build out additional features (most notably positional pages and franchise pages).

Do you have a favorite feature at the Hall of Stats website?

Oh boy, that’s like picking my favorite kid. The one I’ll go with is the most recently I added. The Upcoming Elections page presents the players eligible for every Hall of Fame election (BBWAA, Today’s Game, Modern Baseball, Golden Days, or Early Baseball) between 2018 and 2031. For players like Alan Trammell who could appear on one of two ballots, we opted for the era in which the player earned the most Hall Rating.

There has likely never been a time when the Hall of Fame’s election process has been so influenced by outsiders’ opinions. How do you think the Hall of Stats is contributing to the discussion that is changing the Hall’s elections?

I’m just a guy who runs a small site, so I don’t think the impact is too huge. But I’d be lying if I said there was no influence at all. I know that my research made it into the room for at least one of the Era committee elections. I don’t know if it was considered, but at least it was there. I noticed that after I made an impassioned plea for the candidacy of Charlie Bennett at SABR’s 19th Century Base Ball Conference, he jumped from a tenth place finish in the 2016 Overlooked Legend voting to fifth this year. I think I may have helped raise awareness of Bennett, but he still remains a long way off from Cooperstown.

Who’s your favorite Hall of Famer?

It’s going to be hard not to go with Nolan Ryan (since I named my son Nolan). But Deacon White’s induction was a big deal for me.

Did you really name Nolan after Nolan Ryan?

I would say his name was inspired by Nolan Ryan. I pushed for the name early on because Nolan was my favorite player of all time. Eventually, my wife came around

How about a favorite who clearly doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall?

I’ve always been enamored with Pete Incaviglia. He just seemed like the everyman who tried hard and achieved some success with his brute strength. Long ago (I mean really long ago) I created a site dedicated to him. I must have done a decent job with it, because for a while Pete was using the bio I wrote about him on his own official site (which has since been taken down).

You’re also head of the Overlooked Nineteenth Century Base Ball Legends Project of SABR’s 19th Century committee. How did you receive that honor?

I became the project’s chair in September of 2013, taking over from Joe Williams. Joe co-founded the project and did an amazing job—eventually getting to see Deacon White (the project’s second selection) inducted to the Hall of Fame. As Joe was looking to scale his role back some, he took notice of my contributions to the group and thought I could handle it (I had only joined the group three months earlier). Luckily, he’s been there as a resource to help me every step of the way. I’m very proud of the selections the group has made, most recently Bob Caruthers this year and Jack Glasscock in 2016.

If you had a magic Hall of Fame wand to add 19th Century players to the Hall, which player would you add first?

I was asked this on the panel at the SABR Conference, too. I went with Doc Adams because his contributions to early baseball were far more significant and impactful than the playing careers of anyone still on the outside. In terms of players, I’m quite partial to amazing all-around shortstops Bill Dahlen and Jack Glasscock.

And what player on the outside looking in (19th or 20th Century) is most deserving in your estimation?

The easy answers here are Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, but I think you’re looking for straight up overlooked players, rather than punished ones. Among 20th century overlooked players, I really have a “Big 6” that it’s tough to choose from. They’re all modern stars who played since 1970, which I think says something about how much higher the standards for the Hall have gotten. They are (in alphabetical order because it’s hard to pick just one): Bobby Grich, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling, Alan Trammell, Larry Walker, and Lou Whitaker.

Strangely, there aren’t a ton of players I lobby for who played in between Dahlen (retired in 1911) and Grich (debuted in 1970). Those who I strongly lobby for include Dick Allen, Wes Ferrell, and Minnie Miñoso.

Do you put Miñoso in without consideration for what he did before he reached the majors?

If we’re removing Miñoso’s Negro League career (and the fact that he was kept out of MLB by the color line), then yes… he’s borderline. But I think those are certainly enough to push him over the line.

Who has the best Hall Rating who wouldn’t get your vote?

Per the Hall of Consensus project I put together, I would have to say it is Kevin Appier. With a 112 Hall Rating, maybe I should be more sympathetic to his case. I haven’t given him the close inspection like I gave Rick Reuschel, David Cone, Larry Walker, and others. Maybe doing so would convince me.

Who has the worst Hall Rating who would get your vote strictly on his playing career?

That’d be Joe Start (76). The reason is because his prime came in the decade before the National Association. He was one of the biggest stars of the 1860s, but none of that is included in his statistical record (and therefore his Hall Rating). The fact that he reached 76 without the benefit of his prime speaks to his overall longevity and dominance.

All modesty aside, would the Hall’s voting process be improved if you and folks who did work like yours had a vote?

I’ll come right out and say “yes” and here’s why—even if I don’t agree with your Hall of Fame vote, if you have a system or a consistent standard that you apply, I’m good with it. I have one of those. Jay Jaffe has one of those. Other historically-focused friends of mine like Graham Womack and Joe Williams have their systems. They’re organized about it.

I want to stress that there are many, many BBWAA voters who put a great deal of thought into this, though. They have their consistent standards and apply them well. Take Barry Bloom for example. His real Hall of Fame vote and my fake one don’t overlap a whole bunch, but every year I feel like we have constructive (and civil, that’s a key) conversations about our choices. I respect the amount of thought he puts into it—which is indeed quite a bit—even though I don’t agree with where he ends up with all of his votes. That’s what we need more of and I think that has gotten better over the last couple of years as only people still close to the game can keep their votes.

***

This is fun! Happy to do it. Please let me know if any follow-up questions came from the answers above.

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As I did last week, I’m including that last line, which is kind of outside the Q & A, because it offers a sense of what a good guy Adam is. I don’t know that I can articulate just how much fun it was for me.

By the way, I know Twitter can sometimes be a cesspool. With Adam’s accounts, it’s not. Check him out @baseballtwit and @HallOfStats, both great follows.

Yes, I’m still intimidated talking to these folks, but there seems no reason to be. As Ryan was, Adam was awesome. Humble, thoughtful, and willing to share his time with someone he doesn’t know to discuss the game he loves.

Thanks Adam!

Miller

The HoME 100: #80–71

We pick up our latest HoME 100 entry this week at #80. Go back and check out #100–91 and #90–81 if you want to catch up.

#80–71

80. Frankie Frisch (ESPN Rank: 00)

ERIC: They called him “The Fordham Flash” for a reason. He was fast and used that speed to take extra bases and swipe others. It gave him excellent range afield. He had a dollop of power, hit for a good average, was tough to strike out, drew enough walks to keep his OBP up, and played each game with intensity. The kind of guy that today’s sportswriters would swoon over. Like David Eckstein with lots more skill and ability.

79. Jeff Bagwell (ESPN Rank: 96)

ERIC: Bagwell was perhaps the player who best epitomized the shift in MLB from Charlie Lau’s hitting style to a more core-rotational centered approach. Lau wanted players to take an aggressive stride toward the pitcher, which allowed a batter to generate an effective weight shift from the back to the front foot. But if you watch Bagwell, he does something very different. He assumes a very wide, crouched stance with the front foot in the bucket. He lifts that foot, puts it down in line with his back foot, centering his weight rather than transferring it all to the front foot, and then uses the rotational force of his core muscles to generate tremendous force. Bagwell was merely the most extreme example of this technique, but Mark McGwire and to some extent Barry Bonds also used it. I’m no expert, but I strongly suspect that by not striding so much, a batter’s head would move less, helping him see the ball a split second longer, and he wouldn’t have to commit to the ball as quickly, giving him better control of the strike zone. Anyway, it added up to a hell of a lot of offensive production. He was the Johnny Mize of his times, only a little better.

78. Carlton Fisk (ESPN Rank: 70)

MILLER: He reached double figures in homers eighteen times. No other catcher put up more than sixteen. Mike Piazza and Johnny Bench did so only thirteen times each, Gary Carter twelve.

77. Tom Glavine (ESPN Rank: NR)

MILLER: I have to say I’m surprised that he’s not on ESPN’s list. Smoltz is there, and I think conventional wisdom is that Glavine was the superior pitcher. Glavine won 300. Smoltz was relegated to the bullpen for a while post-injury. Perhaps the ESPN folks remember too much of Glavine’s stay in New York?

76. Luke Appling (ESPN Rank: NR)

ERIC: The kind of player who gets lost in the shuffle. He had little power and drew lots of walks. In fact, he’s one of three Hall of Famers whose careers started in the live-ball era whose OBPs are higher than their SLGs (Rich Ashburn and Rick Ferrell are the others). He wasn’t flashy on the bases and played a solid but unspectacular shortstop. He never won an MVP. He was a nice guy who played on a team that never competed seriously for the AL flag during his tenure. He played during a time of deep star power at his position. But he did enough things well and well enough that he racked up impressive career value.

75. George Davis (ESPN Rank: NR)

MILLER: Davis got lucky when he was inducted into the Hall in 1998. It could easily have been Jack Glasscock who’s at #72 or Bill Dahlen who’s further up our list. There’s so much right about Bill James book What Ever Happened to the Hall of Fame? Perhaps the most significant thing in it is the second word in its original title, The Politics of Glory. Folks who really understand the history of the game just need more political pull.

74. Mike Piazza (ESPN Rank: 99)

MILLER: I don’t know what it is about my personality, but I was happier for Piazza this summer than I was Griffey. Griffey was a better player, though not by as much as many think, but he was this sure thing to be inducted. Piazza had to wait, and he never should have. Last post in this series Eric wondered what it would have been like had the Mets drafted Reggie Jackson rather than Steve Chilcott. Well, what might have happened to Piazza if he weren’t drafted in the 62^nd round, perhaps as a favor done by Tommy Lasorda to Piazza’s father?

73. Pop Lloyd (ESPN Rank: NR)

ERIC: Playing in the deadball era, John Henry Lloyd was often described as “The Black Wagner.” It makes sense since both could really hit, and they were both big boned shortstops. As fielders they were both very good and known for shoveling up a whole mess of dirt as they fielded the ball. Lloyd was also known as “Shovel.” But these comparisons only go so far. Pop Lloyd was not as great a ballplayer as Hans Wagner, and that’s just fine because Honus is one of history’s most amazing ballplayers. Lloyd was merely amazing.

72. Jack Glasscock (ESPN Rank: NR)

MILLER: There are going to be two chances between now and 2030 for Glasscock to claim his much-deserved Hall of Fame plaque. Smart folks believe Bill Dahlen deserves to go in 2020. I’d be satisfied with a 2030 Glasscock election.

ERIC: You’re very optimistic. But with rapid advances in the science of senescence we should be able to see him elected in 3030.

71. Cristobal Torriente (ESPN Rank: NR)

ERIC: The best centerfielder in MLB between Ty Cobb’s peak and Willie Mays was clearly Joe DiMaggio. But he was not the best centerfielder in baseball at that time. That was probably the Negro Leagues’ Oscar Charleston. This guy, Cristobal Torriente, is DiMaggio’s competition for the #2 slot. The amazing Negro Leagues Database at Seamheads.com shows Torriente as being one of the best players period in the Negro Leagues. Translating Negro League performance is an inexact science, and our placement of Torriente here reflects that inexactness. Still, in those Negro League seasons we have information on, Torriente was a monster. We have 4300 document plate appearances with a .344 average, a .430 OBP, and a .514 slugging percentage. That last figure might not seem impressive until you recall that the ball wasn’t as lively in the Negro Leagues as in the majors, and that Torriente played several years in the deadall era. It was good for a 183 OPS+, which is 6^th among all Negro Leaguers we have data for. If you think the Negro Leagues were as good in relation to the majors as AAA is today to MLB, knock 20% off there, and you get a 165 OPS+. Which is about 10 points higher than Joe D’s. Of course reality is not that simple, but it gives you an idea that Torriente was the real deal. He had a good glove, stole a lot of bases, hit like the dickens, and even tossed 374 innings (in some seasons pitched pretty well too). Torriente’s .439 wOBA is 10^th all-time among Negro Leaguers in seasons we have data for, and the only person ahead of him whose career started during the deadball era was Oscar Charleston. He was a force.

THE WORLDWIDE LEADER IN SPORTS’ #80–71

• Roberto Alomar
• Eddie Murray
• David Ortiz
• Cool Papa Bell
• Ivan Rodriguez
• Rod Carew
• Juan Marichal
• Wade Boggs
• Dave Winfield
• Roy Campanella

ERIC: Roy Campanella is a big stretch. If they are counting his Negro League play, maybe it’s not, but he’s got a very short career with some really bad seasons mixed into it. I’m also not wild about Dave Winfield appearing on this list at all. I, personally, see him as not too far above the borderline and certainly not one of the top ten right fielders of all time. He was a poor fielder, dragging down his overall value, despite some Gold Gloves. Cool Papa Bell is generally a favorite among Negro Leaguers, but there’s not much info at the Negro Leagues Database to suggest that his reputation was entirely earned. This feels like a fame selection and not one based on real information.

MILLER: Wait, their list is about fame and not skill? Impossible!

ERIC: And don’t even get me started on the absurdity of Ortiz’s ranking….

A Better Pre-Integration-Era Ballot

Maybe the screening committee thought Marty “The Octopus” Marion had something to do with this guy?

Last time out, we took a close look at the Pre-Integration-Era committee’s 2016 Hall of Fame ballot. If you missed that, the short answer is votes for Bill Dahlen, Wes Ferrell, and Bucky Walters, all of whom are in the Hall of Miller and Eric, work for us. Doc Adams certainly belongs on this ballot too. Oh, and spit takes that this committee would include Marty Marion and Frank McCormick.

One of us (read: Eric) tends to get huffy about the idiocy of including the likes of Marion and McCormick when literally dozens of better candidates remain outside the Hall. The other of us (read: Miller) doesn’t care as much about the entirety of the ballot. He doesn’t get huffy at incorrect nominees anywhere near as much as he does by incorrect inductees.

So today, Eric gets to grind his annual Veterans Committee axe to a fine point, and Miller gets to tell the screeners who would simply have been fine additions to the ballot.

Miller: You don’t like the ballot and I do. Surprise! Okay, both perspectives make sense given our individual worldviews. Let’s do what we can to put together what we think the ideal ballot would be.

Eric: Right! Let’s make a ballot that actually contains nothing but people who deserve induction. We’ll start with this—Dahlen is my favorite candidate outside the Hall from this era, and I know he’s right there for you, so he’s on board. And we both think that Adams has strong credentials to represent the pioneers and execs and deserves our vote. That means we have eight slots to fill with people better than Garry Herrmann and Marty Marion. We also noted in our last little ditty that the managers of this period are picked clean, so nothing to see there. Do any other pioneers or execs belong on this ballot?

Miller: No. There are soooo many players who belong that I feel fine (quite good, actually) filling the other slots with players.

Eric: For giggles, I looked into the qualifications of some of the pioneers that John Thorn advocates for at his website. Among them, I could only really see a path for Louis Wadsworth, Duncan Curry, and Jim Creighton. None of them is a clear-cut choice like Adams. I mean he’s got A. G. Mills on the list, and that guy shackled players to the reserve clause and later made a mockery of early baseball with that preposterous, jingoist propaganda about Abner Doubleday. No more execs/pioneers.

Miller: Simmer down, man. We need eight others beyond Adams and Dahlen. Here are my fifteen favorite players from this era, in rank order, who I would put in the Hall. And just to confuse things, I’ll include my MAPES scores for each.

1. Jack Glasscock (67.8 MAPES)
2. Bill Dahlen (66.2 MAPES)
3. Wes Ferrell (51.7 MAPES)
4. Charlie Bennett (52.6 MAPES)
5. Paul Hines (54.6 MAPES)
6. Art Fletcher (52.2 MAPES)
7. Bobby Veach (52.1 MAPES)
8. Ross Barnes (50.1 MAPES)
9. Urban Shocker (48.0 MAPES)
10. Jimmy Sheckard (54.2 MAPES)
11. Bucky Walters (44.8 MAPES)
12. Wally Schang (46.2 MAPES)
13. Bob Johnson (48.7 MAPES)
14. Sherry Magee (49.5 MAPES)
15. Tommy Leach (49.0 MAPES)

Eric: Shockingly, my list is very similar…after all we voted these guys into our own Hall.

1. Bill Dahlen (67.5 CHEWS)
2. Jack Glasscock (65.0 CHEWS)
3. Charlie Bennett (51.1 CHEWS)
4. Wes Ferrell (53.4 CHEWS)
5. Jimmy Sheckard (54.6 CHEWS)
6. Sherry Magee (52.6 CHEWS)
7. Paul Hines (56.5 CHEWS)
8. Bobby Veach (54.4 CHEWS)
9. Wally Schang (47.0 CHEWS)
10. Ross Barnes (56.5 CHEWS)
11. Urban Shocker (47.7 CHEWS)
12. Tommy Leach (52.3 CHEWS)
13. Art Fletcher (55.5 CHEWS)
14. Bob Johnson (49.6 CHEWS)
15. Bucky Walters (43.4 CHEWS)

Miller: So we agree on the top four. Alphabetically, Bennett, Dahlen, Ferrell, and Glasscock make our ballot for sure. And since you know how I love to narrow, and we have the exact same guys in our top-15 just in a different order, let’s see how our combined lists rank them:

• Hines: 6
• Veach: 7.5
• Sheckard: 7.5
• Barnes: 9
• Fletcher 9.5
• Shocker: 10
• Magee: 10
• Schang: 10.5
• Walters: 13
• Johnson: 13.5
• Leach: 13.5

Eric: So our top four plus Adams plus Hines, Veach, Sheckard, Barnes, and Fletcher would round out our ten slots. We would be recommending:

• Catchers: 1
• First basemen: 0
• Second basemen: 1
• Third basemen: 0
• Shortstops: 3
• Left fielders: 2
• Centerfielders: 1
• Right fielders: 0
• Pitchers: 1
• Execs: 1

The Hall is a little short on catchers. Maybe the Schanger should replace Fletcher since we’re already recommending two other shortstops?

Miller: While I prefer Fletcher, it’s fine by me to go with Schang. Now I could craft an argument for Fletcher, but the truth is that any ballot is good enough for me if only deserving guys get in. So I’m certainly not going to quibble about one deserving guy over another. This makes our ballot:

• Doc Adams
• Ross Barnes
• Charlie Bennett
• Bill Dahlen
• Wes Ferrell
• Jack Glasscock
• Paul Hines
• Wally Schang
• Jimmy Scheckard
• Bobby Veach

I really think Bill Dahlen is going to get into the Coop in 2016, and that makes a good turn for the Pre-Integration folks. As long as they don’t also vote for Marty Marion.

Eric: Or Frank McCormick. Or Gary Herrmann. I actually have a feeling that Doc Adams is going to get a lot of votes. Maybe he won’t be elected, but his sudden rise in stature augurs well in my opinion. Then again, when you get sixteen old men in a room, anything can happen. As the screeners proved. It’s irritating to see supposed historians so utterly swing and miss on not one (Marion), not two (McCormick), but three (Herrmann) candidates. I mean, I don’t see the need for four off-the-field dudes on this ballot, but reasonable people can have their own opinions. And Stovey is a pretty reasonable choice on the field; he’s not that far from the in/out line for the HoME and would be just fine in the Hall. But those other three (you know, 30% of a carefully screened ballot) are such dogs. Please, Hall of Fame, can’t you ease slowly away from these crazy writers and let some real historians come to the table?

Miller: Now we completely agree.

Comparing the Halls

Last November we took a look at the HoME in comparison to other Halls. And today, as we approach our final election at the Hall of Miller and Eric, it’s time to review and in a way, reflect. We’re going to look at those Halls once again as our project comes to a conclusion. We undertook this project because the Hall of Fame is a mess. But in the process of our review and our evisceration of Hall voters, we’ve realized just how much agreement there is as far as the experts at the Hall of Fame, Hall of Stats, Hall of Merit, and Hall of Miller and Eric are concerned.

There’s agreement, but there’s plenty of disagreement too. We’ll discuss both in this post.

We Agree

As I guess we should have expected, there’s tremendous agreement among the four Halls. In two days, once our 2015 election is complete, each of the four Halls will have elected 137 of the same players. We agree on Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth, of course. And we also agree on guys close to the borderline like Jimmy Collins, Whitey Ford, and Zach Wheat. Overall we’re unanimous on 63.7% of players in the HoME, which I think is a pretty decent percentage.

We Agree on Talent

Hopefully the BBWAA lets Piazza in this year.

We can add eight names to those on whom we agree if we only consider talent. The Hall of Fame hasn’t elected Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, Rafael Palmeiro, or Mark McGwire, though the rest of us have. Suspension, steroid use, or steroid suspicion has kept their bronze busts from being hung in Cooperstown. If they were all elected, the other Halls would match 67.4% of those in the HoME. Basically, we have unanimity in terms of talent on more than 2/3 of the HoME.

Oh, How the Hall Has Failed

There are 28 more players who have been inducted into the Halls of Stats, Merit, and Miller and Eric but not the Hall of Fame. That means there’s 80.5% agreement among those three Halls. Is there a certain type of player on whom the Hall of Fame has fanned? Sure is!

I can dream.

Joe Torre, 1960-1977
Dick Allen, 1963-1977
Jimmy Wynn, 1963-1977
Reggie Smith, 1966-1982
Graig Nettles, 1967-1988
Ted Simmons, 1968-1988
Darrell Evans, 1969-1989
Bobby Grich, 1970-1986
Dwight Evans, 1972-1991
Keith Hernandez, 1974-1990
Willie Randolph, 1975-1992
Lou Whitaker, 1977-1995
Alan Trammell, 1977-1996

It’ll take some time, but they’ll get this one right. At least I hope so.

The Hall hates hitters from the 1970s, specifically hitters who were active in 1977, it would seem. And they also hate pitchers with low win totals.

Curt Schilling, 216
Rick Reuschel, 214
Kevin Brown, 211
David Cone, 194
Dave Stieb, 176
Bret Saberhagen, 167

Others they’ve whiffed on have been old guys like Charlie Bennett, Jack Glasscock, Bill Dahlen, Sherry Magee, and Wes Ferrell. They’ve also failed on hitters like Ken Boyer, Tim Raines, Edgar Martinez, and Larry Walker.

Here’s the whole group.

HoME, Stats, and Merit (no Fame)   
Dick Allen	  Charlie Bennett   Ken Boyer	      Kevin Brown
David Cone	  Bill Dahlen	    Darrell Evans     Dwight Evans
Wes Ferrell	  Jack Glasscock    Bobby Grich	      Keith Hernandez
Sherry Magee	  Edgar Martinez    Graig Nettles     Tim Raines
Willie Randolph	  Rick Reuschel	    Bret Saberhagen   Curt Schilling
Ted Simmons	  Reggie Smith	    Dave Stieb	      Joe Torre
Alan Trammell	  Larry Walker	    Lou Whitaker      Jimmy Wynn

The Hall of Merit also leans away from 1970s hitters and low-win pitchers.

HoME and Stats (no Fame or Merit)                                          
Kevin Appier	  Sal Bando	  Buddy Bell	   Barry Bonds              
Willie Davis	  Chuck Finley	  Orel Hershiser   Bob Johnson
Jeff Kent	  Kenny Lofton	  Thurman Munson   Mike Mussina
Gary Sheffield	  Urban Shocker	  Sammy Sosa	   Luis Tiant

And the Hall of Merit leans away from early hitters (and 11-time All-Star catchers).

HoME and Merit (no Fame or Stats)
Ross Barnes	  Bill Freehan	  Paul Hines
Jimmy Sheckard	  George Wright	

The Hall of Fame Gets It Right!

By getting it right, I mean voting for a player the HoME supports that either the Hall of Stats or the Hall of Merit doesn’t.

It’s hard to say there’s a specific type of player on whom the Halls of Fame and Merit agree with us but Stats disagrees. But it’s clear they’re not home run hitters.

HoME, Fame, and Merit (no Stats)
Roy Campanella	   Max Carey	  Rich Gossage	   Billy Herman
Willie Keeler	   Bid McPhee	  Joe Sewell	   Monte Ward

There are only three players we’ve agreed with the Halls of Fame and Stats on but not the Hall of Merit. And John Smoltz will likely be in the Hall of Merit soon enough.

HoME, Fame, and Stats (no Merit)
John Smoltz	   Joe Tinker	  Vic Willis

And there are just two who have reached the HoME and Hall of Fame but neither of the others, both defensive stars.

HoME and Fame (no Stats or Merit)
Dave Bancroft	   Harry Hooper

The HoME Doesn’t Elect Everyone

Below are a few charts of players elected by at least two of the Halls but not elected by us. This first one is where we stand alone by rejecting the player.

Fame, Stats, and Merit (no HoME)
Jake Beckley     Larry Doby	     Harmon Killebrew
Joe Medwick      Willie Stargell     Hoyt Wilhelm

These next two have two Halls in agreement but not with the HoME. Both groups are pretty interesting.

Fame and Merit (no Stats or HoME)
Earl Averill	   Roger Bresnahan     Bobby Doerr
Rollie Fingers	   Nellie Fox	       Hughie Jennings
Joe Kelley	   Ralph Kiner	       Bob Lemon
Eppa Rixey	   Edd Roush	       Enos Slaughter
Sam Thompson

Stats and Merit (no Fame or HoME)
Will Clark	  Clark Griffith       Billy Pierce

No Support

The following charts list the players who are in only one of the Halls. Notice how many are in the Hall of Fame without the support of any other group.

Hall of Fame Only
Luis Aparicio	   Chief Bender	      Lou Brock	          Jim Bottomley
Orlando Cepeda	   Frank Chance	      Jack Chesbro	  Earle Combs
Kiki Cuyler	   Dizzy Dean	      Hugh Duffy          Johnny Evers
Lefty Gomez	   Burleigh Grimes    Chick Hafey         Jesse Haines
Waite Hoyt	   Catfish Hunter     Travis Jackson      Addie Joss
George Kell	   George Kelley      Chuck Klein         Tony Lazzeri
Fred Lindstrom	   Ernie Lombardi     Heinie Manush       Rabbit Maranville
Rube Marquard	   Bill Mazeroski     Tommy McCarthy      Herb Pennock
Tony Perez	   Kirby Puckett      Jim Rice	          Sam Rice
Phil Rizzuto	   Ray Schalk	      Red Schoendienst    Bruce Sutter
Pie Traynor	   Lloyd Waner	      Mickey Welch        Hack Wilson
Ross Youngs			

I’m not going to beat a dead horse, but the thing the players above have most in common is that they’re just not that great.

Hall of Merit Only
Pete Browning	 Bob Caruthers	    Cupid Childs      George Gore
Heinie Groh	 Stan Hack	    Charley Jones     Charlie Keller
John McGraw	 Cal McVey	    Minnie Minoso     Dickey Pearce
Lip Pike	 Hardy Richardson   Al Spalding	      Joe Start
Harry Stovey	 Ezra Sutton		

Guys in the Hall of Merit but none of the other Halls are almost exclusively older players. Of the seventeen, thirteen of them played before the mound moved in 1893. At the HoME, we’d say they’ve over-filled that era.

Hall of Stats Only                                
Babe Adams	  Tommy Bond	  Charlie Buffinton   Cesar Cedeno
Eddie Cicotte	  Tommy John	  Chet Lemon	      Jim McCormick
Tommy Mullane	  John Olerud	  Jack Quinn	      Gene Tenace
Robin Ventura	  Wilbur Wood		

Nine of the fourteen guys in the Hall of Stats but no other Hall were pitchers. Generally, they’re older pitchers. Of the hitters, not one played before 1969.

Hall of Miller and Eric Only
Jose Cruz	 Art Fletcher	  Tommy Leach	    Tony Phillips
Wally Schang	 Bobby Veach	  Bucky Walters	    Roy White

The thing that HoMErs have in common, generally, is that they played spectacular defense, particularly as rated by DRA.

Overall this has been quite an exciting project. We hope you’ll check out our last election on Friday and our last set of obituaries on Monday.

Miller

SABR’s Next Overlooked 19th Century Player

Overlooked? We don’t think so.

There was a time in the mid-1980s when friends and I used to say that Harold Baines got so much attention for being underrated that he became overrated. Truth be told, Baines was never underrated to begin with. He was a negative on the bases, grounded into too many double plays, was a butcher in the field, and you know the rest. But it was 1986. We didn’t know what we were talking about. And if in 100 years kids are ever discussing baseball of a century earlier, they won’t identify Baines as underrated or overlooked. They’ll identify him as a guy who reached 3.0 WAR only twice ever. But mercifully, this post isn’t about Harold Baines.

SABR’s 19th Century Committee recently announced their finalists for their Overlooked 19^th Century Base Ball Legend. This is a little game this committee has been playing since 2009, and it’s one in which they’ve largely done a fine job. Today we’re going to review their past honorees and offer our pick for the 2015 winner.

In 2009 they selected Pete Browning, a center fielder who was at his best for Louisville in the American Association. Depending on how you adjust for schedule and competition, Browning might rank right on the HoME border or several slots behind, either at the George Gore/Mike Griffin level or the Jimmy Ryan/Vada Pinson level. Either way, it’s nice that The Gladiator got some press, though he was the recipient of a HoME obituary in our 1997 election.

Speaking of press, the SABR folks called Deacon White overlooked in 2010, and the Hall called him a new member just three years later. Resting somewhere in between Home Run Baker and Ken Boyer among third basemen, White’s career spanned 20 seasons, with his best campaigns at the very close of the National Association and the opening of the National League. He made it to the HoME quite easily, as one of our first trio of awardees in 1901.

Harry Stovey took their award in 2011. If classified as a first baseman, he’s roughly equivalent to John Olerud or Will Clark and similarly overlooked. If we consider him a left fielder, we might rank him with someone like Joe Medwick or Jim O’Rourke. In other words, though he’s not a HoMEr, he has a nice case. By our 2000 election, we decided we had reviewed his case enough, thus his obituary.

Their favorite selection of ours through six elections has to be their 2012 overlooked player, Bill Dahlen. Dahlen was a shortstop who crossed into the 20^th century but whose best work came for the Chicago Colts in the 1890s. We think Dahlen is one of the five to seven best shortstops ever, and he made it into the HoME the first time he was eligible in 1916. Dahlen fell two votes shy of election to the Hall when his case was last reviewed in 2012. With three candidates getting in that time, perhaps the election this December will see Bad Bill become a Hall of Famer.

When describing 2013 winner, Ross Barnes, “overlooked” is an understatement. Miller admits being almost completely unfamiliar with Barnes before starting this project, and that explains why it took six ballots before he joined Eric in voting for the guy to hit the first homer in NL history. Barnes did most of his best work in the National Association, and he hit .400 or better four times from 1871–1876. With all sorts of needed adjustments adjustments, we rank Barnes right around the Joe Gordon/Craig Biggio/ Willie Randolph level at second base. Barnes only played nine seasons in the majors, so he would seem to be ineligible for the Hall, but an exception was made for Addie Joss, and we’re convinced Barnes was a superior player to Joss.

Perhaps the least well know winner of SABR’s award came last year when they bestowed their honor upon Doc Adams. Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams might just be one of the fathers of baseball. He was born in 1814, played his last game in 1875, and is almost entirely forgotten today. Check out John Thorn’s SABR Biography Project piece linked above for more detail.

You’d think that after six years, they would have uncovered all of the critically overlooked from two centuries ago. Not at all. A perusal of the eleven players on their 2015 ballot, as well as some who didn’t make the cut (George Gore, Joe Start, and Jim McCormick to name just three), tells us that there’s still a lot to discuss about players whose great grandchildren have passed away.

We love 19^th Century Committee chairman Adam Darowski’s work at the Hall of Stats, and the work this committee does. So our opinions are offered in the spirit of friendly discussion, not snarky criticism. Because of a tie in voting, there are eleven finalists this year instead of the usual ten. Three of those players are in the HoME, and all were supported by Eric on our first ballot in 1901. Miller got one right from the start, but it took him eight and ten ballots for the other two. From the bottom up, let’s take a look.

Charlie Bennett, elected 1946

Nearly every 19^th Century player is overlooked, period. But catchers especially. None more so than Bennett. He was the ironman backstop of his time, and he hit very well until the grind of catching without much protection finally slowed him down. Probably one of the top dozen or fifteen catchers of all time, Bennett is already a member of the Halls of Merit, Stats, and Miller and Eric, and he would improve the quality of the Hall of Fame’s catching corps. He would be a fine choice to receive this award.

Bob Caruthers, obituary 1985

We cast aside Caruthers because you can’t have that many 1870s pitchers. Parisian Bob is the flipside of Monte Ward and Babe Ruth, a great hitting pitcher who played a bit in the field. Ultimately, we preferred Pud Galvin and Jim McCormick (who didn’t make the final ballot) to Caruthers. The Hall of Merit is the lone institution to have elected him.

Jim Creighton

As a pioneer, Creighton has a case. As a romantic story with his young death being a key ingredient in baseball’s early mythology, he’s pretty awesome (he herniated himself on a homerun swing, leading to hemorrhaging that killed him a few days later). Hard to say much more than that about a figure shrouded by time, but we can see where he’s an attractive candidate for this honor.

Jack Glasscock, elected 1901

Glasscock got the most votes on the 19^th Century Committee’s cut-down ballot. And rightly so. Glasscock and Dahlen are the best two eligible shortstops not in the Hall of Fame, and like Bad Bill, Pebbly Jack is in the Halls of Merit, Stats, and Miller and Eric. Dahlen is better and should go in first, but Glasscock is right behind him, and both would raise the standard of the position in the Hall. Just between us, we’re a little concerned that the Hall of Fame might be avoiding him due to his surname. We hope they are above that.

Paul Hines, elected 1936

The longest-lasting star-level centerfielder of the 19^th Century, and an excellent player. Depending on how you adjust for shorter schedules, Hines is among the top ten or at worst the top 15 at his position. In other words, he would be a fine choice for this award. Or for the Hall of Fame. He’s in the Hall of Merit and HoME, and he’s the first centerfielder off the bottom of the Hall of Stats, but its formula may be a little tough on the 19^th Century.

Dummy Hoy, obituary 1911

This one we don’t get. He’s the sixth best centerfielder among the six considered for the cut-down vote. Easily. While he may get some credit for being the first deaf star in the big leagues, claims that he influenced the spread of umpiring hand signals are very much debatable, and Hall of Fame historian Bill Deane has noted that no contemporary accounts support the assertion. Great story, and surely a legend, but with players like Joe Start, Jim McCormick, George Gore, Mike Griffin, Cupid Childs, Cal McVey, and Dickey Pearce falling below the cutline, we find his inclusion dubious.

Bobby Mathews, obituary 1926

Speaking of dubious inclusions. Mathews won 297 games. That’s his big claim on this or any honor. He had some fine seasons, but some really awful ones too. He did his best work in the National Association and the American Association in what were essentially expansion seasons. His career ERA+ of 104 says a lot about his performance, as does his 86 ERA+ in the NL. Pass.

Tony Mullane, obituary 1978

A longer-lasting and more pitching-oriented version of Caruthers. Two of his best seasons and three of his best five seasons occurred in the 1882–1884 American Association, which expanded from six to eight to twelve teams respectively in those years. He was a very good pitcher, but his performance wasn’t as strong as Caruthers’, and his league contexts drop him below McCormick.

Al Reach

While we didn’t give Reach an official obit, we essentially killed him off in our first election because we don’t include accomplishments off the field. He would make sense for the Hall of Fame, which is empowered to consider those things. Taken as a whole, his life in baseball might merit a plaque, though we’re not sure how many sporting goods magnates need to be lionized (Spalding and George Wright being two others).

Jimmy Ryan, obituary 1980 and George Van Haltren, obituary 1966

We stuck these two together because of their similarity: long-time, contemporary centerfielders who spent a fair amount of time on the mound (GVH more so). Ryan is the better of them, but neither gets close to Hines. A part of their appeal likely lies in some fine offensive career totals. Each has more than 2500 career hits, 1600 career runs, 450 steals, and a batting average above .300. The problem here is simply that these figures aren’t all that special for the 1890s. If you think the 1990s featured a lot of offense, you ain’t seen nothing. When the mound moved back in 1893, offense exploded to 6.6 runs per game. In 1894 it shot up to 7.4 runs per game. It was 6.6 runs per game in 1895, 6.0 runs per game in 1896, and 5.9 runs per game in 1897. To give some context, the crazy, steroid-fueled, small-ballpark, tiny-strike-zone NL of the 1990s topped out at 5.0 runs per game in 1999 and 2000. And that’s with Colorado in the league! We’d prefer to see George Gore and maybe Mike Griffin ahead of these two who are the very definition of the Hall of the Very Good.

So how would we have narrowed the ballot to ten?

    Miller            Eric
1.  Charlie Bennett   Charlie Bennett
2.  Cupid Childs      Cupid Childs
3.  Jim Creighton     Jim Creighton
4.  Jack Glasscock    Jack Glasscock
5.  George Gore       George Gore
6.  Mike Griffin      Mike Griffin
7.  Paul Hines        Paul Hines
8.  Jim McCormick     Jim McCormick
9.  Joe Start         Joe Start
10. Bud Fowler        Dickey Pearce

Not surprisingly, we see things pretty similarly. That’s why we’re blogging partners. The only difference is Miller preferring early African-American player Bud Fowler, while Eric went with the diminutive 1860s star shortstop, Dickey Pearce.

The hard part for both of us was narrowing to ten. To choose just one, we both go with Jack Glasscock. He’s likely one of the three-dozen or so best non-pitchers ever. We both see him ranking right around Bill Dahlen, Buck Ewing, Ed Delahanty, and Joe DiMaggio. And it’s our hope that he’s recognized by SABR’s Overlooked 19^th Century Base Ball Legend vote and soon thereafter by the Hall of Fame.

Miller and Eric

Baseball’s Dirty Word

Craig Biggio put up 3000 hits, but was he one of the game’s greatest compilers?

The term “compiler” has always bothered me. It’s used to disparage certain players for wanting to continue playing baseball. Can you imagine that? Wanting to continue playing baseball, a crime?! It’s not. Really, it’s not. I contend that it’s a fine idea to continue playing the game you love, one that rewards you so handsomely, as long as you’re allowed to play. But since others disagree, I’m putting together this post – one of the most prolific “compilers” of all-time.

First, the criteria. I only included hitters in our database. So nobody who’s still playing or just retired. And I didn’t include catchers either. They tend to hang on for reasons unrelated to career milestones that get the compiler crowd complaining. And to make sure I was focusing on players who haters hate, I’m only including the top-200 of the HoME consideration set by my equivalent WAR.

Finally, I didn’t include any seasons of fewer than 100 plate appearances. This was a tough call. After all, hangers-on often get released after few trips to the plate. But my research showed that about 80% of the eliminated seasons were either at the start of a player’s career or in a season with 30 or fewer plate appearances. I feel okay with the cut-offs.

To determine who made my list, I looked at the three worst seasons each player put up, let Excel do some addition, and voilà. Without further ado, the game’s greatest compilers, with my equivalent WAR total.

1.  Kid Gleason     -4.33
2.  Pete Rose       -2.95
3.  Jack Glasscock  -2.84
4.  Reggie Jackson  -2.47
5.  Brett Butler    -1.82
6.  Minnie Minoso   -1.73
7.  Ken Griffey Jr. -1.51
8.  Andre Dawson    -1.47
9.  Paul Hines      -1.46
10. Willie McCovey  -1.40
11. Eddie Murray    -1.35
12. Tony Perez      -1.11
13. Max Carey       -1.02
14. Willie Keeler   -0.88
15. Ron Santo       -0.70
16. Dave Winfield   -0.69
17. Craig Biggio    -0.62
18. Gary Sheffield  -0.61
19. Sammy Sosa      -0.57
20. George Sisler   -0.53

I don’t really know what to make of the list. Of course, there are slugging 1B and corner OF types who make up half of it. But then there are guys like Max Carey, Paul Hines, and Brett Butler too. Let’s just focus on the top few.

Most famous as the manager of the Black Sox, Kid Gleason was a pitcher and second baseman from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And frankly, he probably shouldn’t have been allowed to play second too much after his pitching career ended in 1895. But he was, and he compiled less than 1 WAR over the last decade of his career. But he was scrappy, I guess. Hell, for a guy 5’7” and 158 pounds, he might have been the scrappiest player ever.

After two players, it seems we might have a pattern. After all, Charlie Hustle, Pete Rose, was the epitome of scrappy during his career. But from 1980 through the time his playing days ended in 1986, he was worse than replacement level. That’s seven years of dreck after a storied career. You might have heard that as a manager, Rose had his issues. It’s too much of a stretch to say that if Rose the manager stopped letting Rose the player hit the field in 1985 and 1986 that things would have been different for the second place Reds, but it’s unlikely they’d have been worse.

Pebbly Jack Glasscock is a proud member of the HoME who was barely bigger than Kid Gleason and manned the shortstop position for seven teams in the late 1800s. His work from 1880-1893 was truly outstanding. He put up five MVP-level seasons and another four around the All-Star level, but it was his 1879 and 1894-1895 seasons that get him on this list. As so often happens with once great players, it took three National League teams – Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Washington – to cycle through Glasscock at the end before he was out of the game.

When Mr. October stunk up the joint for the Angels in the 1982 ALCS, perhaps baseball should have said goodbye to Reggie Jackson. Instead, California and Oakland gave the slugger five more seasons. After winning the 1982 AL HR crown, Jackson posted 99 more home runs, but he hit just .227 and was below replacement level. Had Jackson hung ‘em up with 464 homers after the 1982 season, his career wouldn’t have been any worse, but we might have looked at him less favorably without what he compiled in those last five seasons.

Just for kicks, here’s a list of the anti-compilers, those whose worst three seasons, by the same rules as above, were the best.

1.  Barry Bonds      11.06
2.  Roger Connor     10.79
3.  Joe DiMaggio     10.75
4.  Jackie Robinson  10.73
5.  Mike Griffin      9.64
6.  Bob Johnson       9.30
7.  Ross Barnes       8.97
8.  Eddie Mathews     8.37
9.  Kirby Puckett     8.20
10. Lou Whitaker      8.02

That’s all for now. 1980 election results come out on Friday.

Miller