Before announcing whether or not anybody was enshrined, I would like to ask the community if anybody wants to volunteer to help with this project. Much thanks to Daneeka's Ghost (Results Spreadsheets) and Hungry Joe (graphics) who have been helping out.
And, if anyone is up for it, I could use some additional help with keeping the stats sheet updated. We still plan on only doing one ballot per month.
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.
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
Nearly every player on the ballot lost ground from the previous month, some by considerable margins. In fact, the electorate has pretty consistently gone back and forth and if I was a betting man, I'd say next month most players will see a bump. I can think of two reasons this could be the case.
1. Big Name Effect. When someone like Cy Young appears on the ballot who is a no doubter, he can make other pitchers not look that amazing. I believe this happens with the real Hall, but they have a silly vote limit, so it makes sense statistically as well.
2. Inconsistent electorate. It could simply be that some big-hall voters don't show up every month, and some small-hall voters don't show up every month. I'm too lazy to actually look at the stats.
It's probably a combination of both. What I do know is that we had 20 voters this month, so it took 15 YES votes for an election. Let's honor those who bribed enough voters.
Rube Waddell may have had a development disability and severe mental illness, but he also now has a plaque at the Half-Baked Hall and the support of 85% of the Citizens. Who could ask for more?
Despite his lackluster resume, Cy Young managed to get 95% of the vote. How long will he hold this record?
Remaining on the Ballot (16 Players)
Joe McGinnity, who was oh-so-close to being elected on his first ballot, absolutely plummets all the way to 50%. Bill Dahlen and Wee Willie Keeler make impressive showings, with Addie Joss not far behind. A lot of people see just enough in Jesse Tannehill to let him stick around another month despite just getting one firm YES vote.
Players in italics will be on their final ballot next go round. And that one player this time around will be Buck Ewing.
John McGraw: 70% +2
Bill Dahlen: 65%
Willie Keeler: 65%
Addie Joss: 60%
Amos Rusie: 60% -13
Jesse Burkett: 55% -9
Joe McGinnity: 50% -23
Buck Ewing: 35% -6
Jim O'Rourke: 35% -1
Jimmy Collins: 35% +3
Vic Willis: 35%
Jake Beckley: 30% -11
Joe Kelley: 30% +16
Elmer Flick: 20%
Jack Chesbro: 20% +6
Jesse Tannehill: 5%
Falling off the Ballot (14 Players)
Comiskey consistently had two-fifths of the electorate wanting him in due to his efforts off the diamond. I honestly haven't added any other players elected to the Hall unless they also had some good playing statistic as it appears the electorate wants to focus on players at this point. Perhaps when we get caught up, we can talk about having a special ballot for pioneers.
Monte Ward and Pete Browning were on their final ballots, and their dying gasps are pretty pathetic. Browning would have fallen off regardless. Otherwise, we lost two players on their third ballot in Thompson and Duffy.
Topsy Hartsel got one vote, presumably because of his name. And Harry Steinfeldt, the third baseman next to Tinker, Evers, and Chance, gets one vote as well.
Charlie Comiskey: 40% -1
Monte Ward: 25% -20
Pete Browning: 15% -26
Sam Thompson: 10% -8
Ginger Beaumont: 5%
Hugh Duffy: 5% -13
Topsy Hartsel: 5%
Deacon Phillippe: 5%
Harry Steinfeldt: 5%
Fred Tenney: 5%
Harry Howell: 0%
Sam Leever: 0%
Freddy Parent: 0%
Roy Thomas: 0%
Only two years for this ballot, as many above average players all decided to quit at the same time. You may have heard of one of the new guys.
Ballot Due Date: Monday, September 29th. I'll send it out sometime next week.
Last Time On The Ballot
Pete Browning
Charlie Comiskey
Monte Ward
New Hitters
Ginger Beaumont
Bill Dahlen
Elmer Flick
Topsy Hartsel
Willie Keeler
Freddy Parent
Harry Steinfeldt
Fred Tenney
Roy Thomas
New Pitchers
Harry Howell
Addie Joss
Sam Leever
Deacon Philippe
Jesse Tannehill
Rube Waddell
Vic Willis
Cy Young
This post is dedicated to Can of Corn, who seemed in a foul mood last night. Dude, here's my advice. Stop worrying about the present and keep your mind in the past!
Scot has nearly caught up with bios for all of the electees so far. Check them out here. There's even a shout out to Can of Corn in Billy Hamilton's bio. Also, did you know Dan Brouthers once killed a catcher?
So this ballot had an underwhelming set of names. I had heard of Joe McGinnity and Jack Chesbro, but I doubt many looked at that list and was penciling in their YES votes before doing some research. So I thought that might open the door for someone who had been on the ballot for a while.
I was right.
Lady and gentlemen, your 1909 electees!
On his fifth ballot, the 19th century version of Ozzie Smith squeaks into the hall with 77% of the vote. He's now the second electee (along with Ross Barnes) who is not in Cooperstown. He also continues a string of awesome staches.
That's two shortstops getting elected this go-round. And both held down 77% of the vote. Any chance Honus Wagner can do better?
Remaining on the Ballot (15 Players)
McGinnity breaks the record for highest vote percentage on the first ballot without getting elected. Rusie makes a huge jump, nearly making it in as well. Most players saw improvement this time around, with Jesse Burkett benefiting the most with a whopping 28 point jump. Hall-of-Famer Chesbro is barely hanging on after one ballot.
Players in italics will be on their final ballot next go round. There are three of them. If you want to stump for any of them, now's your chance!
Joe McGinnity: 73%
Amos Rusie: 73% +18
John McGraw: 68% +0
Jesse Burkett: 64% +28
Monte Ward: 45% +4
Jake Beckley: 41%
Pete Browning: 41% +14
Charlie Comiskey: 41% +0
Buck Ewing: 41% +18
Jim O'Rourke: 36% +9
Jimmy Collins: 32%
Hugh Duffy: 18% +9
Sam Thompson: 18% -5
Jack Chesbro: 14%
Joe Kelley: 14%
Falling off the Ballot (14 Players)
None of the five players on their final ballot made it in. King Kelly tried his best. He was between 55% and 67% his entire time on the ballot, but as this isn't Survivor, Daneeka's Ghost just couldn't buy enough votes to get his guy in. One of the best two-way players of all-time, Bob Caruthers, stalls at 50%. CarterHayes' guy Harry Stovey peters out on his final chance.
Bid McPhee, the best full-time second baseman of the 19th century, drops off on his fourth ballot.
Four of the new guys couldn't garner a single vote.
King Kelly: 64% +5
Pud Galvin: 59% +9
Bob Caruthers: 50% +0
Harry Stovey: 32% -4
Paul Hines: 27% +0
Bid McPhee: 23% +5
Bill Dinneen: 14%
Al Orth: 14%
Arlie Latham: 9%
Lave Cross: 5%
Dan McGann: 0%
Claude Ritchey: 0%
Jack Taylor: 0%
Jimmy Williams: 0%
I will be giving a few days for people to make pleas for those on their final ballot.
Date Ballot Sent Out: Thursday, August 21
Date Ballot Due: Monday, September 1
Final Ballot
Paul Hines
King Kelly
Harry Stovey
Bob Caruthers
Pud Galvin
New Pitchers
Jack Chesbro
Bill Dinneen
Joe McGinnity
Al Orth
Jack Taylor
New Hitters
Jack Beckley
Jimmy Collins
Lave Cross
George Davis
Joe Kelley
Arlie Latham
Dan McGann
Claude Ritchey
Jimmy Williams
Before we begin, I'd like to mention to those reading that if you're not yet a voter and would like to be, please let me know. You can join any time!
Also, if you haven't been following Coffeyville Whirlwind, Scot continues to do bios for our electees.
22 voters plunked down ballot this time around. 17 votes were needed for election, and 6 votes were needed to avoid eternal shame. Three players had one final chance to get elected.
As you all know, for our second anniversary (after the cruise) I decided to do five minutes of stand-up at Rick Bronson's House of Comedy. I don't think I would have had the courage to do this without my wife. My entire family (including my parents) also came to watch. I'm blessed that they gave me my adult sense of humor and appreciate it.
The video is below, but first, a few highlights:
1. There were 13 guest comedians for open mic. The closer (Chris Knutson, who was pretty good) was actually the headliner the entire week. I was supposed to go second, which was great. Have someone open, then get up and off the stage before I get too nervous. Well, the first person didn't show. So I was surprisingly called right away. Yikes.
2. The first few guys who followed me were horrendous. One guy was about 70 and just told dirty internet jokes (and he had a lisp). One guy just sadly talked about how awful he was sexually. No jokes, just him berating himself. One guy I'm sure was higher than a kite and kept having to read his cheat sheet to remember his jokes.
3. As mentioned, Fancy Ray was there. For those who don't know who he is, he's a sort-of local celebrity who used to do late night commercials for local sex shops. He also had his own cable show where he interviewed people like Oprah (!). His entire act is him being famous for being famous. He was pretty obnoxious, but then he spent two minutes picking on my dad in the front row. He asked my dad if he had seen him on TV. My dad shook his head, and Fancy said it's probably because he watches too much internet porn. He then said my Dad looked like a 70's swinger who never got laid. Lots of laughs at our table for that.
4. Funniest guy of the night was Brandon Riddley. He had a five-minute bit on how awful his aunt's peanut butter was when he was a kid, and how it almost ruined his life.
5. Favorite one-liner of the night. "So last weekend I hosted a party. The theme was Alien vs. Predator. Only it had a twist. It was Illegal Aliens and Sexual Predators. Wound up just being a mustache party."
6. There was one obnoxious drunk kid in the crowd. He volunteered that he had just had a DWI and his ex-girlfriend's mother was there driving him around. Unfortunately, comedians kept egging him on and this weird relationship and the kid wound up heckling later comedians.
6. The emcee, Greg Coleman, was fantastic. He's in the picture above. He made everyone feel welcome and was pretty funny. He opened the evening with a few jokes, including one where he was convinced he had HIV as a kid, because he misinterpreted some lyrics from an Ice Cube song. I tell you this because it explain my opening joke. Enjoy. (Slightly NSFW due to adult humor and one four letter word)
I was only three years old during the 1984 season. I hated eggs and potty training, but I'm sure I had few thoughts on Ron Davis. The first year I paid attention to the Twins was 1987. That was a good year to start, I think.
Now that I'm older, I understood the hatred for Ron Davis, even if it was irrational. I felt somewhat similar in 2001 watching LaTroy Hawkins blow save after save. It wasn't in September, but he was partly responsible for the Twins fading down the stretch. So I understood it. But I didn't get it.
So I decided to try and live it. I bought the 1984 season for Diamond Mind Baseball and played with the hometown team. Unlike Billy Gardner, I knew that Davis wasn't going to be much good. So I didn't use him as often.
Gardner put him out there for 83 innings, while I could only stomach 55. In real life, Davis blew 14 of 43 save opportunities. He thrived even worse for me, blowing 8 of 18 save opportunities. Overall, though, his statistic wound up about the same with a virtually identical WHIP and strikeout rate.
Why did I even let him pitch that often? Well, the main problem with the 1984 Twins was that all of their relief pitchers were terrible. Some of them had decent ERAs, but none of them could be counted on to close anything as difficult as a cupboard door. Thus, I burned through relievers quite a bit, and Lysander and Filson had even worse luck than Davis. Gardner must have hated his relief options as well, since the Twins threw 32 complete games that year. I allowed them to pitch 42.
How did the season go? John Castino was on fire before I lost him to a career-ending injury. Brunansky led the way with 36 homers. Puckett was brilliant on defense, as expected (he had one of the best seasons ever for a centerfielder that year). Hrbek underperformed his near MVP year, though he still played well. The starting pitching was good, despite Butcher and Smithson allowing 69 homers between them.
In an early series against the Angels, the Twins had blown a 9-2 lead to lose 16-14. The next game was more of the same, blowing a 7-2 lead to go down 15-9. But a Brunansky grand slam and a clutch Darrell Brown single tied it in the 9th. Hrbek walked off the game with a homer to win 16-15.
Instead of fighting the Royals and the Angels for a playoff spot, they only had the Royals to contend with, the Angels somehow finishing with 102 losses in this simulation. The Twins led the division nearly the entire way, but after a three game-sweep at the Royals in early September, the Twins had blown an 8 game lead and were tied. All dramatics soon vanished, however, when they swept the Royals at home the week after and reeled off 13 wins in 18 days. They lost three games in a row to end the season, but still finished the division with 89 wins (3 ahead of the Royals) and a division championship.
Of course, the 1984 Tigers were waiting. In game one of the ALDS, Viola blew a 2-0 lead late. But the Twins evened it up with a 7-6 victory in game 2, thanks to a Hrbek come-from-behind blast in the 8th. Game 3 was a 4-3 loss, thanks to Smithson and Filson blowing another lead. And Game 4 ended the series, with another 4-3 loss.
One guess as to who gave up that 4th run.
So, it's been like eight years since I did one of these, what with the Half-Baked Hall taking up most of my time. But Nibbish and I decided to join forces on our respective blogs. Starting today, we'll be counting down the Top 20 moments from the NES Super Mario games.
We will not be reviewing the game that did not get released in the States for the NES. Super Mario Bros 2 was deemed too difficult for American gamers and thus Nintendo swapped some palettes on Doki Doki Panic and kept the franchise churning along. It was then released on the SNES as "The Lost Levels" as part of the Super Mario All-Stars package.
I've only played a little bit of it. It is very similar to the original SMB game, but indeed significantly more difficult. Have any of you played it? Drop down your thoughts, and of course, what you've been playing lately.
