17 thoughts on “Half-Baked Hall: 1907-1909”

1. Arlie Latham's nickname was The Freshest Man on Earth.

2. I'll have to do this early in the window.

   1. When you do, you should vote for King Kelly.

3. Dan McGann or Pud Galvin for best name on the current ballot?

   1. Lave Cross

   2. [edit] between those two [/edit] Gotta be Pud ... not many like it currently/recently in the MLB.

4. Jack Taylor completed 187 consecutive starts. Those Japanese kids ain't got nothing on him

5. Collins was regarded as the finest defensive third baseman of his day, and is widely credited with creating something resembling the modern style of third base defense. He is specifically credited with having developed the barehanded pickup and off-balance throw to first base in defending bunts

   I assume somebody else would have come up with that if he didn't, but it's pretty cool

6. George Davis one day, on his way to the ballpark, saved some kids who were trapped in a burning building, then went on to play in that day's game afterwards.

   1. 

   2. That got my vote.

7. Any chance we could have a little extension this time around?

   1. Already planning to extend it through Tuesday, given the holiday. How much time you need?

      1. I'll try to get to it tomorrow, will let you know if I can't.

8. Probably too late again, but...

   Jake Beckley retired with a career batting average of .309, and 2,930 hits. 70 more and he's a lock, right?

   Collins, in addition to Beau's points above, was the manager of the first team to ever win the World Series.

   Latham leads MLB with most errors at 3B, with more than 200 more than the next closest.

   Re: McGraw - are we voting in managers someday? I'm saying yes, but part of that is based on the managering part of his career.

   O'Rourke is getting my vote because Yale Law and hiring the first African American minor leaguer.

   Jimmy Williams is apparently buried at Lakewood Cemetery, in Minneapolis. That earns him a "maybe" in my book, so we can try to keep him around and send someone out to get examine him in the future...

   1. Re: Jimmy Williams, me too.
      From his SABR bio:

      But "Button" Williams (a seldom used early nickname reflecting his height) was not yet done with on-the-diamond baseball as an old contact bought his services. Minneapolis Miller manager Joe "Pongo" Cantillon, who first saw Williams' batting prowess while serving as player-manager for Dubuque in 1897, acquired several former major leaguers for his 1910 American Association club. Among them were Dave Altizer, Ollie Pickering, Hobe Ferris (from the Browns), Otis Clymer, World Series Tiger Claude Rossman and youngster Gavvy Cravath, then a mere prospect. (Joe, a legendary Midwest builder of minor league teams whose brother Mike was president and part Miller owner, had also just finished piloting the Washington Senators from 1907-09.) Those Miller bats were bolstered by the arms of Nick Altrock, Roy Patterson and Tom Hughes, between his Yankee and Red Sox stints. It turned out to be a great six-year job for Jimmy as he stayed through 1915. After never being quite good enough for several years, the Millers new corps took the AA championship for three straight campaigns. Williams batted .316 for that stretch and his glove work (.964) was never worse than second best in the league. His averaged finally fell to .265 from 1913 to 1915 but the Millers won a fourth pennant, and for that span the chunky, 39 year-old was the best keystone fielder (.963) in the league. He played in more than 85 percent of the Millers' games over six seasons.

      Williams was the subject of a lengthy John Gruber "where are they now" story in the Pittsburgh Sunday Post on February 20, 1927, that said he entered the insurance business after retiring from the Millers. He remained in friendly Minneapolis for the rest of his life and according to the city directory Jimmy really worked as a city health inspector for many years. In the early 1930s he was inked by the Cincinnati Reds as a area scout and coach for six seasons. In April 1934, a Reds-sponsored "baseball school" opened in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, for about 300 students. It caught on and Williams was one of the instructors for several years. The annual week-long session lasted for two decades. The 1936 version had 550 enrollees at Nicollet Park in Minneapolis.

      Through the 1940s Williams was an assembler and elevator operator for the Honeywell Company. His wife Nannie May died in August 1949. Reportedly Williams was one of the honored guests at a Minneapolis Sports Dinner in the winter of 1955.

9. Deadline extended to at least1 pm

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