Half-Baked Hall: 1936 Results

God I love baseball so much. When I was eight years old I memorized every statistic of every player in R.B.I. baseball. I would annoy the shit out of my parents by reciting things like how many homers Ellis Burks and Tony Armas had for the 86 Red Sox (20 and 43 respectively, even though Burks's rookie year was 1987 and they used Armas's 1984 stats). I'm so glad I found a community on-line where I can be myself with glorious baseball history. 27 years later and my love for this game is stronger than ever.

We had 18 voters this time around. It was a relatively weak ballot. But we will still have an election ceremony.

 

Dazzy Vance

Dazzy Vance squeaks in on his second ballot, pulling down 78% of the electorate. It's a good thing he had another trick up his sleeve. He sure ain't gettin' by on his looks.

Remaining on the Ballot (15 Players)

Red Faber: 72% +28
Stan Coveleski: 67% -5
Bill Terry: 67%
Zack Wheat: 61% +5
Sam Rice: 50% -6
Urban Shocker: 50% +0
Hack Wilson: 39% -5
Max Carey: 33% +5
Burleigh Grimes: 33% -6
Firpo Marberry: 33%
Joe Sewell: 33% +0
Eppa Rixey: 33% +5
Earl Combs: 28% +6
Wally Schang: 22% +0
Travis Jackson: 11%

Not a lot of movement here, except for Red Faber who had a huge jump of 28 percentage points and was the only player to fall one vote short. Bill Terry made a pretty strong first ballot showing. Firpo Marberry must have been swayed by philsofer's plea as only 5 of 18 voters voted nay. A lot of people on the fence there. Some people on the fence about Travis Jackson as well thanks to nibbish's lukewarm report.

For the first time in a while we will have zero players on their final ballot next go round.

Falling off the Ballot (9 Players)

Eddie Cicotte: 39% +11
Heinie Groh: 22% -6
Edd Roush: 17% -5
Lefty O'Doul: 11% -6
Herb Pennock: 11% -6
Rabbit Maranville: 6% -11
Freddie Lindstrom: 0%
Tom Zachary: 0%
General Crowder: 0%

I'm honestly surprised how well Eddie Cicotte did. Perhaps I shouldn't be given how much overwhelming support Shoeless Joe got. I thought that was a case of, "Well, he was so dominant we can ignore the cheating." As it turns out, Eddie's borderline case overcame that as well.

As for the rest, we see a lot of real-life Hall-of-Famers getting kicked to the curb. Pennock, Maranville, Roush, and Lindstrom all say goodbye, the voters unimpressed by the various Veteran's Committees.

Charts

Ballots

Happy Birthday–October 1

Ray Kolp (1894)
Carmen Hill (1895)
Jimmie Reese (1901)
Jim Russell (1918)
Hal Naragon (1928)
Chuck Hiller (1934)
Rod Carew (1945)
Bill Bonham (1948)
Pete Falcone (1953)
Jeff Reardon (1955)
Vance Law (1956)
Mark McGwire (1963)
Roberto Kelly (1964)
Chuck McElroy (1967)
John Thomson (1973)
Brandon Knight (1975)
Matt Cain (1984)
Erik Komatsu (1987)

Jimmie Reese played in the majors only briefly, but was a coach in the majors or minors for most of his life.  He was Babe Ruth's roommate for a short period, and uttered the famous line that in reality, he roomed with Babe Ruth's suitcase.  He is also remembered for his skill with a fungo bat, to the extent that he would sometimes pitch batting practice with it.

We would also like to wish Beau a very happy birthday.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 1