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[All MLEs updated 7/4/18 to include (a) new 1938 and 1947 data (b) new baserunning-runs estimates(c) new, more objective playing-time estimates]
[Note: These MLEs were updated 12/7/17 to correct formula for Rrep, which was over crediting players by one to two runs per season.]
The Negro Leagues developed more excellent shortstops and centerfielders than any other positions. The best athletes gravitated toward those positions, especially with the smaller rosters and wide ranging quality of blackball teams. Generally, the best right-handed throwing athletes found their way to shortstop, and the lefties to centerfield. The Halls of Fame and Merit have honored six shortstops, and today we’ll look at John Beckwith, Grant “Home Run” Johnson, and John Henry “Pop” Lloyd. We refer you to our Major League Equivalencies (MLEs) for Negro Leagues batters for all the gory details on how we arrive at our numbers.
Discussions of John Beckwith seem to revolved around his personality problems. He had them, for sure. But let’s first look at his plusses on the field because that’s our primary interest here at the Hall of Miller and Eric.
Beckwith could really swing the bat; that’s why they called him “Boom Boom.” Our MLE shows the big righty as a world-class hitter with more than 400 batting runs in a relatively short career. He hulked over the men of his time at 6’3″ and 220 pounds. That bulk may have cost him some athleticism. He bounced between third and short and first for much of his career without much acumen for any of them. His best position was hitter. He doesn’t appear to have run well on the bases either. But man, could he hit, to the tune of a .344 average, a .580 slugging percentage, and a 166 OPS+ that ranks 11th all-time among players with at least 500 Negro Leagues plate appearances. He was one heck of a player even with his flaws.
Now for the personality. Like Jud Wilson, Beckwith was one of the the Negro Leagues’ four Bad Men. There’s an interesting comparison to be drawn between the folk music of white folks and that of African Americans. In songs like “Jesse James” and “Pretty Boy Floyd” white songsters celebrated these bad men as Robin Hood like figures. They tended to romanticize these criminals into heroes. African American folk songs such as “Stagger Lee” (also known as “Stagolee,” “Stackolee,” and many variants thereof) don’t do so. Its famous chorus tells it like it is, “He’s a bad man, O, Stagolee.” These songs demonstrate respect (if not admiration) for forceful men not by varnishing their stories but by just telling them.
This is how I see a certain strain of Negro Leagues lore, the part that retells the worst of what some men did in the pursuit of the game, a living, and a place in the history of their community. This isn’t to say that Beckwith or Wilson stampeding an umpire or beating an opposing player senseless makes them great ballplayers or anything less than appalling in their behavior. No, indeed. Instead, it may well describe their drive, what made them stand out from the crowd. It explained, in part, why they bucked the odds and competed at the highest levels.
Beckwith’s career is peppered with incidents that would make Milton Bradley blush. He was suspected of killing a man in Chicago, which forced him to switch teams in 1924. He hooked on in the east, beat up an umpire and had to jump town again. He went to Harrisburg, made some scenes, bounced around some more. Once when a teammate made a public demonstration of his frustration with a Beckwith fielding error, the burly brawler knocked him cold. Negro Leagues researcher James Riley goes to great pains to describe Beckwith’s issues, in fact,
The numbers he accumulated during his career are impressive but, unfortunately, his contributions to a team with his natural ability were offset by negative intangibles. Beckwith was moody, brooding, hot-tempered, and quick to fight. Combined with a severe drinking problem, and an often lazy, unconcerned attitude about playing, his character deficiencies often negated his performance value.
There’s a certain danger in talking about someone’s character, especially someone you’ve never met, and there’s more danger in taking third-party descriptions like this at face value. I don’t doubt that Beckwith wasn’t a great guy, and that he had some bad people problems. Was he a Milton Bradley? Was he a Mitch Melusky? Was he a Gary Sheffield? A Kevin Mitchell? I would bet no one really knows, especially given how different the baseball culture of today is compared to the baseball culture of the Negro Leagues. But the interesting line here is that these “character deficiencies often negated his performance value.” Hmmm. Rube Foster tried to sign this guy a bunch of times. Beckwith never lacked for work while his skills stayed sharp. Was he really a “lazy” player? He wasn’t much in the field, but was that because he was dogging it or because he wasn’t a good fielder?
John Beckwith Negro Leagues Stats | Bio Career: 1919–1937 Destination: NL 1920–1934 Missing data: 1927, 1929 Honors: Hall of Merit Year Age Lg Pos PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR =========================================================================== 1920 20 NL SS 70 2 0 0 0 1 4 0.4 2 6 0.7 1921 21 NL SS 360 19 0 0 -1 5 23 2.3 11 35 3.5 1922 22 NL SS 470 31 0 0 -1 6 37 3.4 15 51 4.9 1923 23 NL SS 460 19 0 0 -1 6 25 2.4 14 39 3.8 1924 24 NL SS 520 38 0 0 -1 7 44 4.4 16 60 6.1 1925 25 NL SS 510 25 0 0 -1 7 31 2.9 16 47 4.4 1926 26 NL 3B 490 26 0 0 -4 3 26 2.6 15 41 4.2 1927 27 NL 3B 510 22 0 0 -4 3 21 2.1 16 37 3.8 1928 28 NL 3B 540 10 0 0 -4 3 9 0.9 17 26 2.6 1929 29 NL 3B 520 30 0 0 -4 3 29 2.6 16 46 4.1 1930 30 NL 1B 460 53 0 0 -6 -4 43 3.7 14 57 4.9 1931 31 NL 1B 470 40 0 0 -6 -5 30 3.0 15 45 4.6 1932 32 NL 1B 450 33 0 0 -6 -4 23 2.3 14 37 3.8 1933 33 NL 1B 430 9 0 0 -5 -4 0 0.0 13 13 1.5 1934 34 NL 1B 390 - 1 0 0 -5 -4 -9 0.9 12 3 0.3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6650 355 5 0 -49 24 336 32.1 207 543 53.3 Hypothetical MLB Career Rankings (1871–1960) PA: 181st Rbat: 41st WAA: 46th WAR: 64th
Some notes, especially on fielding. With this post, I’m running a new version of fielding value for each player. I had been making educated guesses previous, but now I’m basing fielding on an objective system. You can read about that in the MLE methodology post cited in the intro to this post. I’m going to go back and change the fielding results for those players this will affect. It won’t affect most who had a significant MLB career because we’ve used their MLB rates wherever appropriate.
Clearly, Beckwith was challenged defensively. Specifically regarding defense at first base, Boom Boom snapped an ankle in 1930, limiting his mobility severely, and his baserunning shows a marked decrease after that season. I haven’t made any specific changes to his defensive rating at this time, though one could argue for that. Also, I considered capping Beckwith’s defense at -50 runs. Before PBP, virtually no throwing infielders drop below that mark. On the other hand, once PBP comes around, some players do drop below that threshold. At this point, we’ll have to consider that as an open question for his candidacy.
I mentioned a couple guys above that I think have a certain aptness to them as latter-day versions of Beckwith: Gary Sheffield and Kevin Mitchell. Both came up as shortstop/third-base types, struggled defensively no matter where they played, were righty hitters who smoked the ball, and had really questionable attitudes. Body-type wise, and career-length wise Mitchell might well fit the bill better than Sheff, but the latter’s controversial ping-ponging from team to team fits well in its way.
[Updated 4/3/18 for minor park-factor correction.]
Johnson got his nickname, “Home Run,” reportedly by hitting 60 homers for a semipro team in 1894. Later, in the second act of his career in the Negro Leagues, he’d go by “Dad.” The Hall of Fame overlooked him, much to their detriment. The smart middle infielder kept himself in good shape and played a long time at a high level at the top levels. He went on into his fifties among the lower-tier leagues and teams. His play among the top teams and in winter ball featured high averages, decent line-drive power for the deadball era, and a discerning batting eye. While not a top run producer, he hit more than enough to be an asset in a championship lineup. While not a prolific base stealer (we’re showing as an average baserunner), he nonetheless had enough speed and quickness to make an outstanding fielder on either side of second base. He shifted to second while teamed with the younger John Henry Lloyd, making them probably the best keystone combo in Negro League’s history or very high on the list. Sadly, however, Johnson appears to have received scant attention from the Hall voters, and his absence is glaring. He played a very long time ago, and the lore from his days didn’t travel nearly as well as that from those still alive to tell the tales.
Grant "Home Run" Johnson Negro Leagues Stats | Bio Career: 1895–1914 Destination: NL 1995–1914 Missing data: 1895, 1896, 1898 Honors: Hall of Merit Year Age Lg Pos PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR =========================================================================== 1895 22 NL SS 450 8 0 0 3 6 17 1.3 14 31 2.5 1896 23 NL SS 510 8 0 0 3 7 18 1.5 16 34 2.9 1897 24 NL SS 500 1 0 0 3 7 10 0.9 16 26 2.3 1898 25 NL SS 570 11 0 0 4 8 22 2.1 18 40 3.9 1899 26 NL SS 570 18 0 0 4 8 29 2.7 18 47 4.4 1900 27 NL SS 520 9 0 0 3 7 19 1.8 17 36 3.4 1901 28 NL SS 520 8 0 0 3 7 18 1.8 17 35 3.5 1902 29 NL SS 510 - 1 0 0 3 7 9 1.0 16 25 2.9 1903 30 NL SS 520 8 0 0 3 7 18 1.8 17 35 3.5 1904 31 NL SS 550 14 0 0 4 8 25 2.8 18 43 4.9 1905 32 NL SS 560 15 0 0 4 8 26 2.9 18 44 4.9 1906 33 NL SS 500 16 0 0 3 7 27 3.2 16 43 5.2 1907 34 NL SS 560 14 0 0 4 8 26 3.2 18 44 5.6 1908 35 NL SS 480 7 0 0 3 8 17 2.2 15 33 4.2 1909 36 NL SS 460 - 7 0 0 3 7 3 0.3 15 17 2.1 1910 37 NL 2B 430 2 0 0 5 7 7 0.8 14 21 2.4 1911 38 NL 2B 340 7 0 0 4 0 11 1.2 11 22 2.3 1912 39 NL 2B 300 7 0 0 4 0 11 1.1 10 20 2.1 1913 40 NL 2B 280 14 0 0 3 0 17 1.9 9 26 2.9 1914 41 NL 2B 200 9 0 0 2 0 12 1.3 6 18 2.1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9330 168 - 4 0 68 110 342 35.9 299 641 68.0 Hypothetical MLB Career Rankings (1871–1960) PA: 39th Rbat: 150th Rfield: 15th (shortstops only) WAA: t-38th WAR: 32nd
Johnson’s fielding numbers are good. We’re seeing him as an average baserunner, and the kind of player whose ability to stay at a key position throughout a long career makes him a star. Alan Trammell with a better glove and less value on the bases isn’t a bad comparison. Since we easily elected Tram, Johnson’s got a great shot with us.
They called him “The Black Wagner.” Honus was still in fine form when Lloyd made the scene, and the comparison made great sense. Like Wagner, Lloyd hit a lot more than most shortstops and stood out defensively. Like Wagner, Lloyd was 5’11”, though the former had about 20 pounds on the latter. Both came across to observers as rangy, and contemporaries told the same story about Lloyd in the field that they did about Wagner: often when he threw the ball to first, it came with lots of dust because he shoveled balls out of the dirt with his big hands.
Perhaps most importantly, the name suggested that Lloyd stood atop the black baseball pyramid, the number one player in the Negro Leagues. Indeed, we can defensibly include only four men in the GOAT discussion for the Negro Leagues. With apologies to Martin Dihigo, Bullet Rogan, Smokey Joe Williams, and Turkey Stearns, the big four are: Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and John Henry Lloyd. At risk of spoiling our centerfield MLEs for you, here’s how we see these players. All batters figures are in 162-game notation. [Note: The following chart is not being updated.]
The Best of the Best
WINS ABOVE AVERAGE | WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENT
NAME CAREER BEST7 | CAREER BEST7
============================================================
Oscar Charleston 66 47 | 103 61
Josh Gibson 63 37 | 92 52
John Henry Lloyd 71 39 | 110 58
Satchel Paige 69 32 | 118 50
I don’t claim to have an answer for you. This list boils down to the questions of peak versus career, pitchers versus hitters, and one’s interpretation of the defensive spectrum. Still, no matter how you slice it Lloyd belongs in this argument and has some bona fides for winning it. Really, what more do we need to know about him?
John Henry Lloyd Negro Leagues Stats | Bio Career: 1906–1932 Destination: NL 1907–1925 Missing data: 1927, 1929 Honors: Hall of Fame, Hall of Merit Year Age Lg Pos PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR =========================================================================== 1906 22 NL SS 500 - 3 0 0 2 7 6 0.8 16 22 2.7 1907 23 NL SS 570 6 0 0 2 8 17 2.1 18 34 4.4 1908 24 NL SS 530 16 0 0 2 8 26 3.3 17 43 5.5 1909 25 NL SS 580 41 0 0 2 8 51 6.0 18 69 8.2 1910 26 NL SS 590 28 0 0 2 8 39 4.3 18 57 6.4 1911 27 NL SS 600 39 0 0 2 8 50 5.1 19 69 7.1 1912 28 NL SS 610 32 0 0 2 9 43 4.3 19 62 6.3 1913 29 NL SS 580 30 0 0 2 8 40 4.3 18 58 6.4 1914 30 NL SS 590 15 0 0 2 9 26 3.0 18 44 5.2 1915 31 NL SS 570 22 0 0 2 8 33 3.9 18 51 6.1 1916 32 NL SS 600 23 0 0 2 9 34 4.2 19 53 6.6 1917 33 NL SS 590 14 0 0 2 9 25 3.1 18 44 5.4 1918 34 NL SS 470 13 0 0 2 7 22 2.6 15 36 4.4 1919 35 NL SS 450 14 0 0 2 6 22 2.6 14 36 4.4 1920 36 NL SS 480 14 0 0 2 7 23 2.6 15 38 4.3 1921 37 NL SS 440 14 0 0 2 6 22 2.2 14 36 3.6 1922 38 NL 1B 350 9 0 0 2 - 3 7 0.7 11 18 1.7 1923 39 NL 1B 260 5 0 0 1 - 2 3 0.3 8 11 1.1 1924 40 NL 1B 290 11 0 0 1 - 3 9 0.9 9 18 1.9 1925 41 NL 1B 200 2 0 0 1 - 2 0 0.0 6 7 0.6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9850 344 0 0 40 115 499 56.3 307 806 92.4 Hypothetical MLB Career Rankings (1871–1960) PA: 24th Rbat: 42nd Rfield: t-45th (shortstop only) WAA: 13th WAR: 14th
Lloyd did everything well. He hit very well, he ran the bases very well, his fielding numbers are nicely above average at shortstop and at first. An often overlooked attribute that separates GOAT players in any baseball setting from the second-tier candidates is durability and its cousin longevity. Lloyd has them in spades and kept his game at a high level deep into his career. Our MLE gently decrements him into retirement, but his actual numbers remained playable into his forties.
Let’s talk about 1906 for a brief moment. In that, Lloyd’s real rookie year, he would project as a slightly below average hitter, and in 1907, as we see above, he projects as an above average batter. He truly hits his stride in 1909 at age 25. We could have also projected 1906, and probably tagged on an extra one to three WAR with below average hitting and above average running and fielding. This is just what we did this time around, and we could easily see it either way. Heckuva’ player.
In our July, 2018 update, we added Lloyd’s 1906 season back in. He was a below average hitter but well above replacement overall. Our new baserunning estimates don’t show Lloyd a much of a baserunner. The data on stolen bases is known to be a little suspect, so it’s possible we don’t have a complete picture at this time of his ability to steal above the league’s rate. And, really, we just threw a dart and picked 40 runs when we made our initial estimate because of his reputation for speed.
* * *
Next time we continue with part two of our short stop at shortstop with Dick Lundy, Dobie Moore, and Willie Wells.
the Hall of Miller and Eric 