WGOM Half-Baked Hall

Half-Baked Hall: 1912-1914

27 Comments

So life has been really hectic lately. Hopefully you've had time to honor Rube Waddell and Cy Young in your own way. We're adding six pitchers and six hitters this go round.

I noticed the player spreadsheet was getting really crowded. I've divided the hitters up into 8 separate tabs for their primary positions. I've still kept a tab for all hitters.

Player Spreadsheet

Ballot Due Date: Monday, November 3. I'll send it out within the next seven days.

Last Time On The Ballot

Buck Ewing

New Hitters

Frank Chance
Art Devlin
Kid Eberfeld
Deacon McGuire
Cy Seymour
Jimmy Sheckard

New Pitchers

Bob Ewing
Kid Gleason
Clark Griffith
Earl Moore
Jack Powell
Doc White

27 thoughts on “Half-Baked Hall: 1912-1914”

  1. I'm voting for "the Old Fox" Clark Griffith no matter what, because Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins.

  2. Why you should throw some votes out for Buck Ewing on his final ballot:

    1. For 12 consecutive seasons he had an OPS+ 126 or higher.
    2. He won two World Series with the Giants. In the first one, he went 9-26 with two triples and a homer.
    3. He sat closer to the batter than most catchers dared to. Despite this, he was injured less often than most catchers and hit well despite getting bruised up.
    4. Arguably the best catcher of the 19th century. While not the hitter King Kelly was, he was easily the better catcher.

  3. I've been voting yes on Jimmy Collins because he's a third baseman and his numbers are at least good enough for a second look.

    I think it was DPWY, but maybe someone else that pointed out the Cooperstown HOF is woefully short on 3B. I think Collins (and McGraw, for goodness sake) both deserve to get in from that position here.

      1. Last ballot, I went through and looked at him and decided I should vote yes before I realized he was a returning player on the ballot. I was kicking myself for not voting for him the first time around until I went back and looked and realized that I did.

        So, two independent reviews by me both agreed that he should get a yes vote. What more can anyone ask for?

    2. Yes, Cooperstown is bereft of 3b compared to 1b. The electorate(s) just never valued defense because, you know, RBIs!!!!

      I will continue to vote for Ewing, Collins, and McGraw.

  4. Why is Ross Barnes showing up as a catcher in the position-split spreadsheet? Not that it really matters, since we've already elected him, but it doesn't look like he spent any time there.

  6. I'm probably not going to vote for Jimmy Sheckard, but he was quite the dynamic player for quite a while. Despite a negative career defensive WAR, he had over 260 outfield assists.

    One sportswriter described Sheckard as "a marvelous workman in his pasture and one of the surest, most deadly outfielders on fly balls that ever choked a near-triple to death by fleetness of foot and steadiness of eye and grip."

  7. Hey Beau. I don't seem to have a ballot. I'm assuming you sent me one and I accidentally deleted it. Can you send me another.

    Thanks.

  9. Jack Powell was arrested during his first pro baseball game for playing on Sunday. Fined about $150 for it too.

  10. Frank Chance is of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" fame. He was the first basemen as well as the manager for the 1906, 1907 and 1908 epic Cubs teams. His WAR might not scream "shoe-in", but I think the rest of it does.

    Otherwise, you should all vote for Addie Joss and John McGraw...and Jimmy Collins.

    1. "the rest of it" meaning managing three World Series team? I'm not convinced, especially because of this:

      Chance once incited a riot at the Polo Grounds after physically assaulting opposing pitcher Joe McGinnity, and on more than one occasion tossed beer bottles at fans in Brooklyn when he felt they were being too unruly, or perhaps not unruly enough. For his fighting prowess (he spent several off-seasons working as a prizefighter), old-school boxing legends Jim Corbett and John L. Sullivan both called Chance "the greatest amateur brawler of all time." He made outfielder Solly Hofman postpone his own wedding until the off-season lest marital bliss affect Hofman's playing ability. It was reported that Chance would fine his own players for shaking hands with opposing players, win or lose, and had no qualms about releasing players for failing to meet his demands to the letter. Chance once remarked, "You do things my way or you meet me after the game." Generally, his players complied, and it is no small wonder that he earned yet another nickname, "The Peerless Leader," as he was simultaneously respected and disliked by those who played for him, with him, and against him

      So he was pretty much of an asshole and a hothead. Did his stubbornness help them win so much? I dunno.

  11. Note: you have Kid Elberfeld listed as Eberfeld on this post and the ballot. The player spreadsheet has the right name.

      1. lousy defense, threw like a girl. Selfish (hit a lot--349--of solo HRs, zero SF for his career).

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