9 thoughts on “Half-Baked Hall: 1963”

1. Gil Hodges does nothing for me. If he's not a Dodger he doesn't sniff the Hall as close as he did. He's Kent Hrbek more or less.

   I'm on the fence with Early Wynn. His solid hitting numbers puts him in the conversation. But most of his case seems to be durability and longevity. His peak doesn't really stand out.

   1. I agree about Hodges. Definitely a "cool story bro" case (lived in the neighborhood near Ebbets, part of only Brooklyn Team to win WS, managed the Miracle Mets).

   2. From Wynn’s SABR bio:

      Early, nicknamed Gus, got along well with his teammates, but was a grim, scowling presence on the mound. “That space between the white lines – that's my office, that's where I conduct my business,” he told sportswriter Red Smith. “You take a look at the batter's box, and part of it belongs to the hitter. But when he crowds in just that hair, he's stepping into my office, and nobody comes into my office without an invitation when I'm going to work.”3 With his large frame, grizzled appearance, and willingness to knock down opposing hitters, Wynn stood out as one of the most intimidating pitchers in the game. Roger Kahn, in his book A Season in the Sun, described how the pitcher once brushed back his teenage son during a batting-practice session at Yankee Stadium. “You shouldn’t crowd me,” snarled the elder Wynn. As he explained to Kahn, “I’ve got a right to knock down anybody holding a bat.”4

      Wynn hated losing, and was never afraid to throw at batters who got too close to the plate, or hit line drives at him. Some called him a headhunter, but Wynn regarded close pitches as part of the game. “If they are going to outlaw the inside pitch,” said Wynn in an article he wrote for Sport magazine in 1956, “they ought to eliminate line drives and sharp grounders hit through the pitcher’s box.” To those who suggested that he would throw at his own mother, Early famously replied, “I would if she were crowding the plate.”5

      1. Oops. Not here.

      2. I used to find that kind of rhetoric charming, but I got kids now. And as if batters have control over where they hit their line drives. I mean, maybe it was easier when pitchers weren't throwing 100, but I doubt it.

         1. Some of them old timers could hit it where they ain't...

            1. Or where they is, apparently.

2. I find it amusing that Wynn won his lone Cy Young in 1959, when he led the league in walks, had an ERA+ of only 120 and earned 2.8 pitching rWAR (3.9 total!)

   He got 13 of 16 first-place votes (just one Cy awarded then). Second-place finisher Sam Jones had a better ERA (leading the league and was at 134 ERA+), much better K:BB ratio, and earned 5.7 rWAR. He got two votes. Go figure.

   1. Strange season for Jones. He started 35 games, only two fewer than Wynn, but finished another 12 games in relief.

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